AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Heather Hart

Tell me a about yourself. What got you started in writing?

This is such a loaded question that I could write an entire book about, but the overview is that I have always loved writing. I hate that that sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. Growing up I was told it wasn’t a realistic profession, so while I always hoped to have a book published, I didn’t think it would ever happen. But God stepped in. In December of 2007 I gave birth to twin girls, and became a stay-at-home mom. Since I was home, I started volunteering for a few online ministries. Partly to help others and partly to help me feel like I was still a productive member of society (nothing against stay-at-home moms, I am one after all, but I wasn’t raised that way and it took some getting used to).

In 2009 two of the ministries sort of overlapped. One of the moms in the moms group that I led asked about devotionals for teen girls–it just so happened that I also volunteered for a teen girl’s ministry, but I didn’t think they had any devotionals. So I asked.

I got an e-mail back saying they didn’t, but it would be a great addition to the ministry and they wanted to know if I could help get it started. Me. They wanted me to write! I was beyond giddy and started right away. It took a while to get everything up and going, but our first devotional book (a book with my name right there on the cover) was published in 2010.

I’ve been writing professionally ever since, and in every capacity I could find. I love writing, and I love that I can do it in real life.

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

When my kids were little, I wrote after they were all in bed, but now that they are all older (my twins just turned 9!), I usually write in the day while they are at school. I’d love to tell you that I write from 1pm-3pm every day or something official like that, but I don’t. During the seven hours they are gone I work my hardest to squeeze in writing, marketing, cleaning, eating, fitness, errands, etc. and some days I don’t get it all in. I’m hoping to have a better schedule going into 2017, but for now, I just do the best I can with the time that I have.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or some other method of getting your words down?

Really, it’s not the place that matters as much as having a keyboard. Writing my thoughts out by hand isn’t fast enough and I like to make edits while I type and I can’t do that by hand or when I dictate. Most often I write on my desk top computer in my home office. But I do have a laptop that I use on the go or in other places in my home or back yard. I love writing at my picnic table out back when the weather is just right.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

I love the written word. I love forming ideas and penning them down to be read by others. I love crafting phrases that can impact lives and bring glory to God.

My least favorite part about writing? Typos. I hate it when I spend hours and hours working on a piece only to have it published being less than perfect. Drives. Me. Nuts. But, it also brings me back to Jesus because I know that people aren’t looking at me thinking I’m the best author ever, but they can usually still glean that Jesus is King, and that’s what matters anyways. I love the gospel and I always try to see how it works in the corners of real life. And that includes my typos, because no matter how many words I misspell or commas I miss, Jesus loves me anyways.

How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

My newest book, Mirror Mirror… Am I Beautiful? was actually originally written by Shelley Hitz in 2007. She approached me about coming on as the co-author of the second edition in early 2016, and I was honored. I had read her book in 2009 and loved it. It was the book I wish I would have had when I was a teen. It was like the perfect handbook for Christian girls living in the real world. It didn’t just cover the pretty Christian topics, but the real-life, nitty-gritty issues that girls are faced with in high school: Insecurities. Guys. Fashion. Evolution. Faith. Sex. It was all there.

And it was about a decade too late for me.

As my own daughters approach their teen years, I didn’t want it to be too late for them. So, when Shelley asked me about it I jumped at the chance to make it relevant for today's teens. I added much of my own story to give an added perspective to the book, updated any facts or content that were out of date, and added a chapter on social media.

All in all, I worked on the second edition of the book for around 9 months. It’s actually available free on my website. You can find out more at TrueBeautyBook.com

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

I use social media a lot. It seems to be great for driving traffic to sales pages and blog posts and for engaging my audience. I also have a large email list that I utilize on a regular basis. I’ve found email marketing to be one of the most rewarding avenues. So, blogging, social media, email, it’s just a little bit of everything really. They all work together to make one big book marketing web to snag my ideal readers.

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

My newest book, Mirror Mirror… Am I Beautiful? that I mentioned above released December 8^th, and I’m already moving on to my next project. It’s an anthology for Christian women called Candid Conversations. Over a dozen other women have sent in testimonies about how God has helped them through the struggles of real life. I am in the process of weaving all the stories together in one seamless book.

I guess you could say it’s not your traditional anthology, it won’t be just a bunch of stories thrown together, but I am writing the bulk of the book and sprinkling it with the words of other Christian women. I am both super excited and humbled by this book.

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

*Hangs head* Too many to count. I have a couple devotional books for teen girls, a couple of Bible study books, and a few books for authors. The one closest to being finished is a book on email marketing. I just have two chapters left and it will be ready to send back to the co-author to finalize and send for edits. I am so thankful to have gracious writing partners who let me set the time line for our projects.

The email book is part of The Book Marketing Survival Guide Series published by Body and Soul Publishing. We also have a book on book launches for that series on the back burner as well.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

My writing has improved so much since I started. Seriously. When I go back and read articles I wrote when I first started I shudder and wonder why anyone thought I was worth publishing. But I never would have improved if I hadn’t gotten started. Working with an editor really helped me grow. But, also just practice and research. It’s just like training for any other job. You get to work, research what you need to know and keep at it. You’ll improve as you move forward, but you’ll never make it anywhere if you are too afraid to try.

A Question For Kathryn:

Thanks for having me Kathryn, real quick before I go, I do have a question for you. What do you think the biggest mistake most authors make is? Would you say it’s in the editing, writing, marketing? I’d love to know.

Good question. I would say that editing is king. And I only say that because that seems to be the biggest hang-up for writers. They've written a book, think it's great, and try to get it published themselves before the editing is done. I know they're excited; I was pretty darn excited when my first book came out, but there needs to be some tweaking, maybe even entire scenes removed before the book travels out there.

I realize that there will be things that will be missed - there may be one or two grammar issues in a book once released despite multiple editors, but it's always a good idea to have a few beta readers and even an editor look at your book before you put it out there. Yes, even if you want to be traditionally published, it doesn't hurt to have some editing done before you send it off.

With that said, I also think that even with superb editing, the story needs to be good to great in the first place. And I think that marketing needs to be done on a daily basis to really see some sales in your books. That also means plenty of booksignings, book talks and the like. 

I like to balance my writing and editing with my marketing, but it isn't always easy. Sometimes I find that I'm am writing, writing, writing and forgetting to market the books already out there. Sometimes I get caught in the marketing trap and forget to write. 

The important thing is to make time for all of the aspects of writing. A great book will not sell unless readers know it's there. By the same token, a book that's highly marketed but is not written very well will eventually show its true colors. 

***

Heather is an internationally best-selling and award-winning author who has an unquenchable passion for Jesus. Her desire is to help women of all ages embrace who they were created to be and find their true beauty in Christ. She currently resides in a small Texas town with her husband and their four quickly growing children. You can learn more about her teen ministry visiting www.FindYourTrueBeauty.com and learn more about her women's ministry at www.CandidlyChristian.com.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Alan Livingstone, author of ATOMS

Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing? 

As far as I can remember, writing has always been a part of my life since high school.  Strange ideas for stories would come to me and I would have write them down; I even remember when I was 15 and submitting a short story to my teacher called Murdering the Orient Express about a newspaper called The Orient Express and how a despicable villain was killing journalists who had stumbled across his nefarious ways.  My teacher enjoyed the story but wasn't convinced that the content truly reflected on the subject manner; which was about investigative journalism and what costs are involved with uncovering the truth. That said, given that I explore the very tiny would of atoms, no one has ever told me to curb my enthusiasm for a good story and to take it as far as possible.

Some time ago, I self-published a collection of short stories called Heroes, Monsters and other Miscreants, and although not a best-seller, I enjoyed the experience of actually being in print.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or do you prefer writing freehand?  

I always write at home and begin plot and character development using freehand as it gives me a storyboard and far better flexibility to link plots, sub-plots and minor characters; and given that I am currently working on a sequel to my first novel, I need to do as much research as I possibly can and interweave science into a novel primarily aimed at students.  Once the ideas have borne fruit, I then use a laptop for the actual story.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

Writing allows me to challenge myself and my imagination and this is truly the magical part for any writer; the way a simple idea can be transformed to your very own piece of art much like a sculptor can make a lump of clay into a masterpiece.  I don’t really have anything that could be classed as my least favorite aspect of writing; however, when I find my story with no logical path to explore, it can be frustrating.

How do you come up with your characters? Why would readers want to get to know them?  

I believe that the most important facet of writing is to create a whole spectrum of characters, whether the reader is empathetic to their plight or indeed angered by their shameful actions, I think that character development is the single most important tool a writer can possess.

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?  

As atoms, my first novel, has only just been completed, this is a whole new experience for me; that said, I want to get my story out there to the widest audience I can and for the readers to see what the exciting world of atoms can be.

Purchase atoms here

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?  

I write whenever I can, whether it be one short chapter or twenty or thirty pages, I write when I have new ideas or simply just have the urge to tap into my imagination and jot thoughts down, despite how odd these ideas may be.

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

I am currently working on a new novel titled physika which is a sequel to my first full-length volume called atoms and I am about half-way through, with the story defined and the characters from the first novel that have been reintroduced but in a far more harsh atomic-world than they were when we met them in the first book.

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it. 

I have a couple of ideas that I have begun to sketch out to develop further once physika has been completed.  One involves a reality competition of couples who renovate a block of old Georgian (c 1830) apartments set in central London and broadcast by the competitors themselves as they transform the old buildings and discover old secrets, but one apartment also has someone, or something who doesn't want to leave.  The idea came from and expression that I feel fitting for the title: 9/10ths.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?  

As my old English teacher once told me, and I still hold dear to this day: start small.  Start with a small idea and don’t try and turn it too intricate by introducing an army of characters or more twists and turns than a roller-coaster and the rest will come easy.  Start small, she reminds me in my head, everyday…every single day.

***

Thank you, Alan!

atoms

by

alan livingstone

an adventure on a completely different level…

overview

atoms is a completed four part adventure story of 135,000 words that introduces readers to a whole new world with characters based on the elemental Periodic Table and with personalities and traits based on their elemental properties and chemical interactions. 

The characters in atoms are generally spherical in shape with facial features, arms and hands and orbiting electrons and they float just above the surfaces in their own little world. The names of the characters have been chosen based on the atomic abbreviation in the Periodic Table.  Cee-U is the main protagonist and is a play on Cu, the abbreviation for copper; Plum-bum is a massive grey lead atom and the abbreviation for lead is Pb given that Plumbum is Latin for lead.  Minor characters also follow this convention; Little Stevie G is the name given to Steve Seaborgium and the abbreviation for Seaborgium is Sg;  Ferrous, the loveable iron atom wants to be known as Iron Tyke given the weakness that Ferrous projects, although the abbreviation for iron is Fe.  Name dissections have been employed principally to introduce female characters with first names such as Rutherfordium has been dissected as Ruth E. R. Fordium and Molybdenum as Moly B. Denum.  Movement is an important part of the atoms and there has been a great deal of care taken to avoid verbs and adjectives to indicate standing, walking and running and instead words such as float, glide and hover have been used; and rapid movement is described as scampering, scooting and scurrying.  The obvious exception to these rules are words chosen to describe the movement of the heavy metal atoms who bounce their way along given their high atomic numbers and associated weight; and this peculiarity also inevitably leads to their downfall.  The shapes of the characters are also important and are based on the physical properties that they represent: for example; Cee-U is the hero of the story and is a brilliant copper coloured sphere who is resilient to most chemical effects except that he turns green when exposed to acetic acid which will prove pivotal in his success; Al, the aluminium atom and Cee-U’s best friend is a rough pyramid of soft metal and prone to dents and creases in his dull shell; Ferrous (a.k.a. Iron Tyke) the iron atom, is cuboid in shape with a rust coloured birth mark and Plum-bum, the lead atom is a heavy teardrop shape to represent his plumpness.  This also applies to the villains of the story, the Heavy Metals; who are generally disfigured and ugly ellipsoids with distorted gothic or sallow features and include Plutonium, the barrel-shaped cruel monster with talons for hands, froth coated tusks and a myriad of crude tattoos emblazoned on his shell.  Uranium, who is more cold and calculating than Plutonium, is a blemish free chrome coloured atom and resembles a thin, smooth upside down cone with tiny, inadequate electron whizzing around his shell.

atoms differs from all other stories in this genre by combining both loveable and detestable characters in an adventurous battle for self discovery; and at the same time, atoms is educational as the interactions between atoms are explored to deliver a unique learning experience for the reader.  For instance; we witness the wedding of O, a tiny oxygen atom who is getting married to the two giant hydrogen sisters and during the wedding (explained as covalent bonding) it becomes evident that the union produces a water molecule (H²O). Also, during the procession of atoms going to the wedding they collide with a giant door that is blocking the way and several unplanned molecules are created.  A small nitrogen atom collides with three rather large hydrogen ladies and the result is ammonia (NH₃) which causes a burning in the eyes; there are also the three oxygen brothers on their way to meet up with the scandium sisters but they suddenly get pressed into on ozone molecule (O₃) and vanish in the atmosphere.

As a reader we don’t just arrive in the atomic world we must be seen to be examining it and we are introduced to the tiny world in a prologue as a laboratory assistant who narrates the events surrounding a failed experiment which leaves only water and a few basic elements and wonders if we look deep enough surely there must be something else there.

atoms is divided into four parts based on experiences during sleep; dreams, nightmares, awakenings and dark corners.