Imogen Howson
As a child, Imogen Howson loved reading so much that she not only read in bed, at the table and in the bath, but in the shower and—not so successfully—on her bicycle.
She enjoyed books in a slightly unorthodox way, too—many of her childhood books have ragged edges where she tore paper from the margins in order to eat it.
When Imogen and her younger sister became bored on long walks or family outings, Imogen entertained them both with stories about fairies or, in defiance of biology, “the people inside your body” who made everything work.
Sometimes this storytelling talent was put to a less benevolent use. For weeks, Imogen convinced the little girl next door that the fairy queen was planning to take the little girl on a wonderful trip to fairyland. When Imogen’s conscience got the better of her and she had to confess the truth, she did try to comfort the little girl by telling her about heaven instead, but she never managed to make it sound as appealing as fairyland.
Some years later, Imogen only tells stories clearly labelled “fiction.” She writes novels and short stories—in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, young adult and romance, for preference—and is a member of EPIC.
Imogen lives near Sherwood Forest in England with her partner and their two children. She still reads in most places, but she no longer eats paper.
The short paranormal romance Meeting in Darkness, which she wrote for the Romance Divas Valentines Day Challenge is available at her website.
Falling
Safety is an illusion.
When the world crumbles into chaos, only a chosen few can afford the luxury of life in towers built to soar far above the pollution and destruction on the ground. Life up in the air is full of beautiful things and beautiful people. What happens when you’re not one of them? What happens when everything you believed about the world turns out to be a lie?
You fall. Or you learn how to fly…
Fire and Shadow
On Fern’s 18th birthday, she discovers she’s a fire-starter. It’s a gift, and she’s glad to have it. But fire starting is a curse as well as a blessing. Fern must learn how to control it, and to do that she has to leave her home and family, lest she burn them all by accident. Fern travels to a place where other young people have gathered to learn how to manage their gifts. Though none are firestarters, they understand self-control, and there are books to help. And that’s where she meets Nik, the enigmatic magician who seems to understand her and her gift better than she does herself.
From the moment they meet, sparks fly, sometimes literally. Nik makes her lose her temper faster than anyone else can, but he understands her better than anyone else, too. Fern realizes something she didn’t look for and didn’t expect; she’s falling in love with him.
But can Nik be trusted? Or is he hiding dangerous secrets of his own?
Frayed Tapestry
Candy is living a fairy tale dream. She has a rich husband who will buy her anything. She has a maid. She gets to have cocktail parties and trade banter with witty, rich, important people. Except… their friends are really his friends and, crazy or not, she sometimes feels like they watch her. It’s a problem because she keeps losing her shoes and her husband thinks bare feet are trashy.
She knows she should just tell him that she likes going barefoot and expect that he’d learn to love her just as she is, only he’s older and more sophisticated than she is, he takes such good care of her, and he loves her so much. Mostly, though, she’s afraid of what he’d do.
Helen
Imogen Howson has also provided us with a free story available for download in our bookshop. In it, she visits the legendary Helen, long before her face would launch a thousand ships.
