In this episode of The Writing Coach podcast, I’m thrilled to interview my client Helen Pilz who just published her sweet Christmas romance New York Snow and Turquoise.
Born into a U.S. Air Force family, Helen lived in many places around the world, including Dublin, Ireland; Ankara, Turkey; the Philippine Islands; and London, U.K. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Biology with a minor in history and additional studies in forest and rangeland management. Helen’s a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and RWA chapters: Hearts Through History Romance Writers; Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal RWA; and Land of Enchantment Romance Authors. She lives in New Mexico with her husband.
During our conversation, Helen discusses:
- How winning a writing contest in elementary school helped launch her writing career
- Her experience transitioning from traditional to independent publishing
- How she’s benefited from my group coaching programs
- Why her love for Southwest culture inspired a Christmas story set in New York
- And much more!
Listen to the episode or read the transcript below:
The Writing Coach Episode #149 Show Notes
Get Kevin’s FREE book: NOVEL ADVICE: MOTIVATION, INSPIRATION, AND CREATIVE WRITING TIPS FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS.
Get Helen Pilz sweet Christmas romance story today:
The Writing Coach Episode #149 Transcript
Helen, welcome to the show.
Hey, Kevin. Good to be here. Thanks.
Congratulations on the publication of your new story, New York Snow and Turquoise.
Thank you. Very excited.
Tell me a little bit about how you got into writing. Have you always thought of yourself as a writer? Is this something you’ve done for a long time?
Yeah, like many writers I loved reading as a kid, and obviously, I still love reading. And I wrote. When I was in elementary school, there was this librarian who had this program about outer space—because it was back when people were still going to the moon—and we had to read books on science and science fiction, and there was a writing contest and I actually won. And I got this really cool pen. Now I’ve long since lost the pen, but I’m still writing.
It’s so funny, every time I interview someone and they tell me about how they first got into writing, they either have a horror story about how some teacher told them they’ll never be a good writer or they have some great story about how they won a contest. I’m glad to hear it was that way for you.
Yeah, thank you.
When did you first start thinking about publishing and getting into the world of publishing books?
I have an older sister who is a published author, and I just always liked reading and writing. And I had a grandfather who owned a newspaper. My dad read voraciously, so there was just something about that was just like, I grew up with it and, and it’s like, yeah. And then it’s about sharing stuff that you like and you think about and, and hoping that it, it just entertains people. That’s so, you know, hopefully people get some joy out of it and that’s sort of like a contribution that I, I feel I can make.
Has there been a sibling rivalry here? Do you have to one-up your sister?
Well, actually no. She’s my older sister, so I’ve always thought she was the alpha. But actually watching her publish traditional and self-publish, it’s actually encouraged me and we get on the phone and we talk and she’s a wealth of knowledge and she really does. Her encouragement and her knowledge has been very helpful. So it, yeah, it’s very, it’s a warm relationship.
Publishing is such an opaque industry that people really don’t know much about it unless they’re inside it. And I think it’s really important for authors to interact with published authors and see, “Oh, that guy’s not so great. He’s just like me. If he can do it, I could do it.” And so the fact that you were able to watch your sister go through the process, I think it makes him more tangible and more real and lets him serious.
Yes, it was, it made, it did, it made it real. The other thing that I did is I joined writer’s group, like Romance Writers of America and went to conferences and just through the years gaining knowledge from what a great group of people that writers can be, especially in the field I’m in with romance, they’re just so, they’re so such nice people. And then like with your group, Kevin, I mean everybody is so supportive. I just dunno if I would’ve been able pushed, be able to push myself without you guys
Before you and I crossed paths. You’d already published a couple of books I believe, is that correct?
Yeah, there were three with a small publisher. And at the time it was really nice for me. It was like everything was taken care of. They were, they edited it, they put it out there and it was, it was a good place to start. But now that I’m a better writer and I got my rights back, it’s like, why not? I mean the, with self-publishing, the control that you have is, is amazing. And I don’t, sometimes, I don’t wanna be pushed by somebody else. I wanna write when I want and I just don’t need the extra stress. So this is, I’m just very excited about this journey.
I got obsessed with movies in high school and then that’s what I went to university for. And I always thought I was going get into movies, but as I finished, I did end up doing my master’s in English literature, but as I went out into the work world, I was like, I don’t wanna have to convince producers to give me 10 million to make a movie. I don’t wanna have a crew of people. I was like, I could do a billion-dollar movie myself in literature. And so that’s really what appealed to me about it. I think there’s an independence that comes with writing in general, and then independent publishing is just another step in that direction in terms of h being able to do everything yourself, which feels pretty great.
It does. And as I recall, Kevin, you have like this little rebel in your background, and I just love it when he said, yeah, this is, I wanna control my life and I wanna do what I love.
I feel like you and I have been working together for years now. How did you and I first cross paths or what brought you into my world?
Well, I somehow I found, uh, some of your webinars that you were, somehow I got an email that you were doing a webinar and um, the one I especially love was Moana and Openings First Acts. And like you, I love films and like, like your family, I love Disney. And so it was just like, oh my gosh, I, I totally, I get the way Kevin’s presenting this, this web, this seminar. And I think then I saw another one on, I guess it was um, the one on Prophecy. I don’t remember. So what was that one?
Use and misuse of prophecy because most of the time when I see clients using prophecy, I think they’re not using it to the not, I don’t like to say anyone’s doing anything wrong ever, but I think there’s better ways they can use props.
Yeah. So I enjoyed that class and especially the planning, planning your novel, your story and I love planning and it was like you said, Hey, here’s this free class. I’m like, yeah, this sounds great. Cuz I’m just, when I need this class on, on uh, on getting my outline together and making the story structure, making sure everything’s kind of working and I love that stuff. And then you’re like, Hey, I’m also if you wanna get your first draft done, and I’m like hands raised. And it was like great timing and yeah, having that, that, that drafting class, the accountability, the support was just exactly what I needed at that time. I hadn’t been writing for much for a few years and this, it just got put life back into me like yeah, the motivation and, and everything and it was just like, you’re the right person at the right time for me.
I love to hear that and it’s been such a pleasure working with you. So the books I’ve been working with you on have been historical fiction. Your new book is Romance obviously. What about those other three? Were the first three romance or what genre were you writing in previously?
Well actually one, I I love historicals and I love time travels and the, the one that was actual full novel was a time travel back to King Henry the eighth time. It was like, what if you went back, let’s say if you’re a woman and you go back there and you catch Henry the eighths, I uh, might not be <laugh>, might not be a good thing,
Might wanna wear a thick scarf.
Yeah, yeah. Uh, and I, and I got the rights back on that. So I’m looking forward to rewriting that cuz I’m a bit much better writer than I was 10, 15 years ago. And so in my future I do still have some time travels, but there is something about Christmas and with this story I’ve lived in, uh, a lot of different United States and states and in some other countries. So being a fish outta water or a stranger in a strange land that appeals to me. Maybe that’s why I like the time travels. I mean we’ve all had heartache. We’ve all had that first Christmas when we were away from home. And so in this story, she’s missing her family, but there’s also romance a possibility. And Christmas to me it’s like, it’s hope and belief and I love happy endings. So it just, it just seemed like it was such a fun story to write.
Are you a fan of romance? Do you read romance?
I do. I read in a lot of different thing, but I like romance, especially the happy ending. But I mean a lot of stuff, I mean I love like speaking of, of sort of like horror adventure stuff. I love your stuff Kevin, cuz it is, it’s so, no, no, thank you. It’s just like, so fun. But I’ll also read like military thrillers and historical, so I, I, I like a lot of stuff, but then that as a writer as you know, it’s like you can mix that stuff and twist that genre and uh, hopefully there’s someone out there that, that will appeal to and they can have a, a fun time reading it.
Well like I was saying, I think of you as this historical writer and so when you said I’m gonna write this Sweet Romance Christmas story, I was like, oh, okay. But you, I think you absolutely just nailed it. The connection is that fish outta water character, right. Because in New York Snow and Turquoise it’s about a woman from the south . . .
Southwest.
Southwest. My American’s Geography is so bad.
Yeah, yeah. It’s fine.
Okay. So it’s about a woman from the southwest, but she’s now living in New York and she’s longing for the traditions of the Southwest while she’s in this cold, you know, frigid New York Christmas. Yes. Which is just like a time traveler obvious this idea of someone from one culture traveling to another culture where they, where they’re an
Outsider. Yes. And I think most of us can understand whether even if you are an outsider in your hometown or you move somewhere else and you’re starting over and, and it says experience and, and I think, yeah, so it’s hopefully it’s a universal thing that we felt some of this stuff, the outsider, the heartbreak, will I be accepted? But still having that hope and the strength to say I’ve gotta still be myself. And, um, and, and keep going.
Like we touched on earlier, this is your first independently published work. How has it been so far, um, diving into this world of independent publishing as someone who’s coming from traditional,
It’s been very exciting and I, I don’t, I’m not as technically savvy as on people when, when it comes to the formatting and stuff, but with your help and the, the group I’m learning, it’s like what I have pushed myself to learn this stuff cuz it looks really scary. Oh my gosh, putting this out here and doing all the work myself when I’m used to just, here’s the manuscript, do it. It was a little scary, but you were able to like help me format it and then edit it and get it in good shape to where I was able to have the confidence to do it. Just having that confidence and support behind you, sometimes just, at least for someone like me, it makes a world a difference.
I think that’s the interesting thing about our group is, I mean it’s a ton of introverts, it’s a ton of people who love to read and write and I think it’s important to know yourself and know that’s what you like. Like I don’t like going out clubbing, I like staying home and reading, right. But I think there is a danger of becoming like that writer in a cabin all by themselves who never talks to anyone, right? Like there is value from being part of a community and lifting each other up and learning from each other and helping each other out. And I think we’ve seen that in the group.
Oh, uh, definitely I’ve seen that. No, not in for myself, but for other people and watching their writing progress from like a year ago and then seeing their writing now and it’s like, wow, we’re we’re good <laugh>. It’s, it’s just the way we are. Yeah. We’re helping each other out. Yeah, it’s been really good. Definitely for me.
New York Snow and Turquoise is a short story. Well, I mean it’s a short story, but it’s 10,000 words long. It’s not two pages, right? It’s a bit longer. Might be pushing novella length. But now that you’ve done, this kind of a new thing for you. One that it was a short story, two that it was Indy. Do you think you might do more of this? I know you’ve got a bunch of novels you’re working on and several of them are nearly done, but do you see yourself doing some more shorter work going forward?
I might, I, I do have a tendency to like the longer books, but something about the freedom of the short story and not the pressure of, is my structure story structure perfect. It’s like I can see this, I can see the beginning, the middle of the end and it’s, it’s a sweet feeling to just have, be able to see it and feel confident that hey, this is, this is working. And it’s not like I have to worry about 400 pages. It’s um, which, you know, hopefully someday I will worry about 400 pages. But, um, the, the freedom of a short story, I, I recommend it. And then indie publishing, self publishing, this is, it was an easier way to start. I’m glad I didn’t dive in with a big novel. I mean I could have, but this was, I’m glad this happened. It was serendipitous that this, uh, this is my short story came out and it it worked.
This story. What were the origins of it? What obviously you were from the Southwest, so that aspect of it, or I don’t even know, are you from the southwest? I know you’re there now, but
I I moved around a lot. My dad was in the military growing up, so I lived in a lot of different places. But that’s where I’ve, I’ve settled at the moment I’m down in, yeah, down in New Mexico and the culture is fantastic. Very rich. And just having moved around when you have a culture from when you take have it from one place, you move to another. Sometimes you learn new cultures and then if you can intermix the cultures, you can still keep your old stuff and then learn new stuff.
Which obviously works as a beautiful metaphor for relationships too, right? Why it works so great as a romance story.
Yes, it’s that hope and belief.
I had that experience. I grew up in Canada where we kinda like to say we like don’t have that much of a identity where we’re kinda a bland cultural identity or something or that’s what I thought until I moved, I went to Beijing, my mother was working in Beijing and I went there to visit and like, you know, after a week you’re like, I want Canadian food, I want Canadian stuff. It’s like, you realize actually how distinct where you come from is culturally. Um, but sometimes you don’t see that until you go somewhere else. And that’s bit of what’s happening in the story.
That’s great. That reminds me of, cuz I lived in Ireland for a few years and when it came back to the States, it’s like, hey, yeah, I’m back home and I can, can have pizza and what I want, whatever I want. But then I took a trip to Canada and there was a store that had had uh, like British food and I was like, I know Brit is in Ireland, but it’s like, oh my gosh, I can buy, I can buy food that’s from Europe. And I was just, I was so happy. So here it is, you live in one country, you visit another one, you pick up something you love and, and then you’re just excited about seeing your old stuff and your new stuff.
Where can folks go to pick up New York Snow and Turquoise?
It’s in ebook on Amazon. So any of the Amazons in all the different countries that should be up there.
Fantastic. Well I’ll include links to it on the show notes for this episode. Helen, any final thoughts you wanna lead folks with?
If you’re hearing this during Christmas, very Christmas time, if that’s what your belief are and here’s to hope and believe in. And, uh, wanna thank you Kevin for your, your group and uh, just all that, that support has been fantastic and just really wanna thank you.
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