Stories for readers who have always felt the pull of another century –
about
Helen Pilz
who wonder what it would be like to step through a hidden doorway and find themselves in the past.
If you love history the way that I do…
You don’t just want dates and timelines – you want to be there. To know what the air smelled like in 1888 London. To feel the hush of a Tudor chamber lit by candlelight. To step into another century not as a tourist, but as someone who must live there, learn there, and grow there.
My stories return again and again to that moment when an outsider enters unfamiliar ground – and discovers courage, friendship, and unexpected love along the way.
I write for readers who want more than escape.
You want richly researched settings, characters who must navigate worlds not their own, and journeys that lead to growth. History, travel, teamwork, and heart are threads that quietly weave through every story, and sometimes, together, we step through time and come back changed.
"History doesn't only happen to kings and generals. It happens to ordinary people caught in extraordinary moments — who hold on to each other and don't let go."– HelenI grew up moving across countries and cultures, Ireland, the U.K., and the Philippines, in a U.S. Air Force family.
New landscapes, new histories, new ways of living. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to stories about outsiders – characters who must learn the customs of another time and place, and find courage where nothing feels familiar.
At university, I studied wildlife biology and history. I’ve always loved research, the texture of it, the unexpected details, the way a single fact can unlock an entire world. To me, history isn’t distant or forgotten. It speaks, and if we listen closely enough, we can hear it.
the originI grew up in a family that loved to read.
Books were passed across the dinner table. History was lived in, not just memorized. Somewhere between a dog-eared library copy and a family road trip, a question took root: What would it feel like to be there?
the researchI dig until the dust becomes a story.
I’m the kind of writer who reads primary sources for fun. Who finds a detail in a medieval chronicle and builds a scene around it. Who believes that getting the button styles right matters, because readers feel the truth of a world, even when they can't name it.
the wanderingI crossed oceans to find the answer.
From the United States to Asia’s lush landscape, to Europe’s Roman coliseums, Medieval castles, and to the green fields of Ireland, I stood in the places I'd only read about.
the storiesI write for the ones who go through history.
Not just the ones who watch from the outside, but the ones who want to tumble through time, find themselves in 1888 London, in Henry VIII's court, on the eve of a battle, and discover that the only way forward is together.
A few of my favorite things…
Castles, ancient stone staircases, and gas lamps glowing against Victorian fog.
Pocket watches and hidden passageways.
Celtic music and soaring film scores.
Research rabbit holes that last hours.
Stories where teamwork changes everything and brings success and hope.
Animals, wild landscapes, and the feeling of being connected beneath a vast sky.
And always – the moment when a character realizes they are stronger than they believed.
And some other interesting facts…
When I was younger, I fought forest fires on a wildland firefighting team.
While visiting London, I danced in a recreation play in the great hall of Hampton Court, one of King Henry VIII's palaces.
go ahead,Step into the Story
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