Meet Nicole Helm, Stacy Finz and Maisey Yates!!!
Learn all about what they do for fun, their writing process and where they stand of a very important book debate.
So read on for some behind the scenes info exclusive to Military Spouse!
1. How long does it take you to write your books?
Maisey Yates: It varies from book to book. But I’m a fast writer, and usually the faster I’m writing, the better the book is, since it means I have a good grasp on the characters.
2. What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Maisey Yates: The making playlists and using pinterest part. The part where the book is a lovely theory, and isn’t hard work yet!
Nicole Helm: Writing the beginning! I love the high of the first few chapters when anything can happen. It’s also a discovery period, even though I’ve got an idea of who the characters are and where the plot is going to go, setting the foundation for all of that is the fun part and I end up learning all sorts of interesting things about my characters.
Stacy Finz: I love, love writing the first three chapters. Sometimes I wind up tearing them up but those three chapters—whether I use them or not—wind up being the inspiration for the entire book.
3. What advice would you give to your younger self about writing?
Nicole Helm: You do not need to be inspired, or sure, or have it all figured out to sit down and write. My younger self wasted a lot of time waiting for things to be perfect—luckily having kids knocked that right out of me.
4. Do you do any hands-on research for your books? Have you had a favorite experience?:
Stacy Finz: Yes. I’m a former journalist so I get really hung up on facts, which often require a great deal of research. I’ve done everything from a weeklong stay at a dude ranch to a police ride along because the devil is in the details. My favorite experience was riding in a real cattle roundup. The experience was amazing. The fact that I couldn’t walk straight afterwards for a few days, not so much.
5. What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?
Maisey Yates: I love to craft. I have a Cricut Maker, which I used to cut all kinds of paper and iron on things, and a Glowforge laser cutter, which I use for wood and acrylic projects.
Nicole Helm: I love to hike. Being outdoors and seeing all nature has to offer, plus getting away from my desk and moving around oftentimes helps me untangle anything that I’m struggling with in terms of writing (there aren’t a lot of things I do that don’t involve thinking about writing).
6. Do you have a process for working through writer’s block?
Maisey Yates: I think so much of writer’s block relates to getting in your own head. If I’m stuck it’s because I don’t know my characters and their goals well enough. So I got back and sit down and think about what I might have missed with my characters. If I don’t know what they want, that’s usually the source of the issue.
Stacy Finz: I go on a long walk with my iPod and turn up the music real loud. Most of the time a song or lyric triggers something and clears the block up right up. When that doesn’t work I’ll take break for a day. Usually a 24-hour rest is all I need.
7. Do you have a favorite character trope to read? What about write?
Maisey Yates: Always and forever I love friends to lovers (which is what this novella is!) and the younger woman with the older man.
Nicole Helm: I love to read friends-to-lovers. There’s a built in emotional context already, so I love reading two characters as they try to maneuver friendship and deeper feelings, and having to let go of that fear of losing an important relationship. I love to write fake relationship (even better if I can tie it into a friends-to-lovers story). There’s something about people having to pretend to be in love that is so fun to create scenes for—especially as they start to realize it’s not all fake.
8. If you could spend one day with any character from your book, who would it be?
Nicole Helm: Grandma Maisey. She appears only briefly in A Cowboy Wedding for Christmas, but as a recurring character in my Mile High series, she’s one of my favorites. She bakes. She has a sword collection. She’s feisty and hilarious, so a day with her would certainly never be boring!
9. Where do you fall on the bookmark vs dog-ear debate?
Nicole Helm: I dog-ear! I underline. I make notes in the margin. (As long as it’s a book I own, of course). I love feeling like I’m fully immersed in a book and treating it like a piece of me rather than an artifact not be touched.
Stacy Finz: I’m definitely a bookmark person. Dog earing feels like desecration to me. I just can’t bear to desecrate a book, not even a text book. I’ll basically use anything lying around as a bookmark. A candy wrapper, a scrap of paper, an old envelope. I’ve found the weirdest things in some of my old books, sometimes paperwork that I’ve been looking for years.
10. Describe your novella in five words:
Stacy Finz: Two forced together find love.
To connect with the authors, be sure to visit their websites!
Maisey Yates: https://www.maiseyyates.com/
Nicole Helm: https://www.nicolehelm.com/
Stacy Finz: https://www.stacyfinz.com/