Fight Like Hel: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Fight Like Hel: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.Following find an interview with author Helen Lapada:
1.What is the name of the book and when was it published? Fight Like Hel (Published Dec 2, 2025)
2. What’s the book’s first line? ‘My body literally told me something was wrong. I know that sounds unhinged, but bear with me.”
3. What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”. Imagine this. You’re 30. Healthy. Building a career. In love. Life finally feels like it’s lining up. Then everything hits at once. Heartbreak. A global pandemic. Isolation. And an aggressive cancer diagnosis. Suddenly, you’re just trying not to die. Fight Like Hel is about surviving that moment. The book follows my cancer journey during COVID, when I went through treatment mostly alone. It captures the raw physical, emotional, and spiritual reality of that experience, but more than that, it explores what happens when life drops you into a hard level with no instructions and no way out. You can’t quit. You keep going. Woven throughout the story are the hard truths survival teaches you. Trusting yourself when things don’t make sense. Advocating for yourself. Letting yourself feel everything without judgment. The book invites readers to pause and reflect alongside the story, creating space to look honestly at their own lives, not to fix them, but to understand them. While cancer is the catalyst, this book isn’t only for people who’ve been sick. It’s for anyone who’s been blindsided by life and had to fight their way through it. Honest, sometimes darkly funny, and deeply human, Fight Like Hel is written for people still figuring it out as they go.
4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event? Honestly? Almost dying will do it. I promised myself that if I survived, I’d write a book. Spoiler. I survived and kept that promise. At first, writing was therapy. I wasn’t trying to inspire anyone except myself. I was scared and searching for stories that made me feel less alone. I needed proof that people had been through hell and still kept going. Writing became how I processed what was happening while I was still in it. As I reflected on my life, my choices, and the things I’d already survived, patterns started to show up. Those reflections eventually became the 14 principles that carried me through treatment and everything that came after. Writing the book was a promise I made to myself. Choosing to share it and publish it was because of my daughter. Becoming a survivor and now a mother changed how I see my responsibility in telling this story. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that strength isn’t about being unbreakable or pretending things didn’t hurt. It’s about showing up honestly, continuing forward even when it’s hard, and living in a way you can stand behind. By sharing my story, I hope to connect with others who are carrying their own hard chapters and remind them that they’re not alone and they’re capable of more than they think.
5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book? You should read this book because it puts life into perspective. We all go through hard things. Loss, fear, uncertainty. Mine just happened to be cancer. Going through aggressive cancer during COVID stripped everything down and forced me to really feel what survival actually looks like, not just the inspirational version. If you’re dealing with cancer yourself, this book can help you feel less alone in the parts people don’t always talk about. If you’re supporting someone who is, it offers insight into what that experience can feel like from the inside. And even if cancer isn’t part of your story, this book is for anyone going through a hard time. It’s a reminder that everyone is carrying something, that it’s okay to laugh, cry, and question everything along the way, and that moving forward doesn’t require having it all figured out.
6. When did you first decide to become an author? I decided I wanted to be an author during my cancer journey, if I survived. I decided I wanted to be a published author when my daughter was born. Surviving gave me the story. Becoming her mommy gave me the courage to share it.
7. Is this the first book you’ve written? Yes, this is my first book.
8. What do you do for work when you’re not writing? I work in the finance industry, primarily in product and acquisition.
9. How much time do you generally spend on your writing? There’s no set schedule. Writing happens in the in-between moments, and when life gives me a little space.
10. What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie? The best part is the freedom. I get to tell the story exactly as it’s meant to be told. My publishers at Tellwell were great at helping guide certain decisions along the way. The hardest part is that once the book is out, a lot of the execution is on me. You carry the work, the promotion, and the risk. But that ownership is also what makes it worth it.
11. What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors? Bet on yourself. Write the book the way you want, but ask for help where you need it, connect with other authors, and lean on professionals in the industry to help guide your decisions. You don’t need permission, but you do need support.
12. Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why? I’m open to it if it’s the right fit. Creative control and authenticity matter to me, so it would need to be a true partnership that respects the voice of the story. Going indie taught me the value of owning your work, and I wouldn’t give that up lightly. But if a traditional publisher could genuinely expand the book’s reach without changing its core, I’d absolutely consider it.
13. Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?) What motivates me is reach and meaning. Having a voice that connects, giving back in a way that matters, and sharing something real that can help or encourage others. I also think about legacy. I want my daughter and my family to know that I stood for something, used my voice honestly, and tried to leave the world a little better than I found it. If the work reaches people and makes them feel seen, that’s what matters most to me.