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INTERVIEW: Helen Hollick Has Been Scribbling Stories Since She Was Thirteen
- Christina Boyd
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
CHRISTINA: I have followed USA Today bestselling author Helen Hollick's writing career for almost a decade, and I am ever amazed with the number of books she can produce as well as promote. And promote others! I was thrilled when she found time for this interview.
When did you first think you had a book to write, and how did you start?
HELEN: 1966, when I was thirteen. I was always scribbling stories back then – pony stories because I so wanted a pony, but we couldn’t afford one, so I invented a fictional pony. Didn’t everyone do that? I soon discovered, no, they didn’t. I was regarded as weird at school because I loved reading and writing. At my school careers interview, I said I wanted to be a journalist. (I thought I wasn’t clever enough to be an author!) I was told: “Don’t be silly, Helen; you can’t type.” (I still can’t. Two or three fingers suffice.) So, I went to work in a public library instead. In my twenties, I discovered historical fiction and started writing a novel about King Arthur. Skip forward several years… My Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy, set in post-Roman Britain and without the Norman additions of Lancelot, Holy Grail, and Merlin, was accepted for publication by William Heinemann (Random House UK) in 1993, one week after my fortieth birthday. I write different things now and am a hybrid author. But I’m still writing.
CHRISTINA: That is an amazing journey!
What do you wish you had known before you started writing a book?
HELEN: That good editing, cover design and marketing is essential. Back in the 1990s, I left it all to the publisher, but they – and a useless agent – let me down. I was dropped in 2005/6 spent two weeks sobbing, dusted myself down and went self-publish. I learnt a lot during the next few years, the main lessons being: do it professionally, and various publishers can be unreliable.
If you want readers to discover your books, you have to get yourself known. We think of ourselves as whales in a pond, in fact, we’re tadpoles in an ocean. So, we need to get ourselves noticed!
I probably spend as much time marketing as I do writing. (Blog posts, Twitter/X, BlueSky, Facebook) and promoting other authors who, hopefully, reciprocate.
CHRISTINA: Tadpoles in an ocean. How true. Yes, cross-promotion is so helpful when trying to get your name and books out there. It's all about the community you have built.
How has the publishing industry changed since you started?
HELEN: It’s changed enormously! No Indie/self-publishing back in the 1990s. No Internet, no social media. (I started with Myspace – who remembers that?!) The only way to be published was via a mainstream traditional publishing house. Back then, they were happy to assign an editor to a prospective good writer. Now? I’m not so sure. Gone are the days of nurturing a newbie. Gone, too, is diligent editing, especially with smaller churn-em-out publishers, judging by the many missed typos. Book covers tend to follow fashionable trends – there’s very little individuality around. (Or am I getting cynical?)
Self-publishing/Indie remains sneered at by many ‘literary types’ – we’re still thought of as poor writers because we are ‘D.I.Y. ’ But, know what? Maybe we don’t sell as many books because we don’t have the £/$s behind us for marketing, but we enjoy being our own boss, writing what we want to write, and receiving enormous satisfaction for producing a good (great!) book ourselves!
CHRISTINA: What is your current project or latest release?
HELEN: I’ve recently published Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits Of North Devon, which includes all the friendly ghosts within my own home; organized publication of an anthology Fate: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic with short stories by several well-known, wonderful authors, and am about to launch the sixth in my Jan Christopher Cosy Mystery series, set in the 1970s. I also need to get on and write the seventh in my nautical adventure Sea Witch Voyages… busy, busy, busy!
CHRISTINA: Well, you know me. I do love a good collection of stories.
What makes you get up in the morning? What do you love?
HELEN: I recently had a hip replacement op so found it easier to do little and often and stay in bed in between necessary exercises. Sitting at my desk wasn’t that comfortable, but I’ve done a lot of reading instead. Apart from that, where I live is my motivation. I’m in rural North Devon, a mile from the village, my home being an eighteenth-century farmhouse. The horses have to be fed, the dogs walked, and the geese and hens let out. Haymaking will happen soon…
CHRISTINA: What a picturesque setting to recuperate. I hope you are on the mend.
Do you hide any secrets in your novels only a select few might know?
HELEN: Yes, but I can’t divulge them. I’m the only one who knows how my ex-pirate character, Captain Jesamiah Acorne, will eventually die. I saw his death in a very vivid dream. Will I ever write it? Probably not. And I wonder if anyone has any thoughts about the secret writer, A.L. Frederick mentioned in my Jan Christopher series?
CHRISTINA: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
Bored, I expect. Laugh.
CHRISTINA: Thank you for sharing your craft and short history of your writing career and especially for sharing some lovely photos from your life. Wish you much luck on your next project.
ABOUT HELEN HOLLICK
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventures, cosy mysteries, and short stories, invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fiction and history blend together. Her historical fiction spans a variety of periods, with a particular focus on the Early Medieval period. Her Pendragon's Banner trilogy offers a vivid portrayal of the King Arthur story set against a plausible reality setting, while the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings shows her ability to bring historical figures and settings to life. In the Sea Witch Voyages, she subtly weaves in elements of magic and supernatural fantasy against the Golden Age of Piracy, creating an immersive and addictive nautical adventure experience. In addition, Helen has written several short stories, further exploring themes of historical adventure or the supernatural, all with her signature style. Whether dealing with the echoes of the past, sailing aboard a pirate ship or inviting readers to work out ‘whodunit’, her stories are as compelling as they are convincing.
Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures set in the early 1700s. She also writes the Jan Christopher cozy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release of Ghost Encounters is about the benign ghosts of North Devon. Helen, husband Ron, and daughter Kathy moved from London to Devon in January 2013 after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese, helping with the horses, and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework...
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This was such an inspiring read, Helen Hollick’s journey really highlights the importance of storytelling through every stage of life. While working on an assignment about author interviews, I came across her work and it added depth to my research. During that process, I also found a reliable Manuscript Writing Service in USA that supports academic and creative writing projects alike.
Thank you so much Christina, this interview was great fun!