2013 Debut Author Bash - With Heather L. Reid

Hey guyz! I'm participating in the 2013 DEBUT AUTHOR BASH! This is a really cool event that I found through twitter and I just signed up! I'm so excited to have gotten an author that I really love. I know this isn't necessary, but I'm going to be doing a little bit of randomness while writing this! It's a party, after all... right??? YES!

The author I'm hosting is: BADABAM! HEATHER .L REID!!!

So I kind of freaked out when I found that out. I LOVE this lady so much. She's so awesome and just cool in general. Her interview answers are amazing and totally inspiring. I may have cried but I'm not admitting to anything... You guys need to know though: who is she?

Heather's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and dreaming up new novels to write.

She has been a guest blogger on Writer Unboxed and is founder of a new blog for writers Hugs and Chocolate.
Her debut young adult Paranormal, PRETTY DARK NOTHING, will be released on April 23, 2013 by Month 9 Books.

To get a bit more about Heather, here's an interview between us. So much fun (and the inspiration...)! :)

1. A character you relate to (in Pretty Dark Nothing) and why?

As a writer, I think we put a little bit of ourselves in each of our characters, our experience, observations, our perspectives, so on some level I relate to all my characters. That being said, if I had to pick a character I relate to the most in Pretty Dark Nothing, it would be Quinn. When I was younger, I struggled with depression, with self-doubt, with feeling alone. I’ve experienced terrible night terrors that kept me huddled under my covers with a flashlight and book all night to keep me from falling asleep and falling back into those dreams. Although what Quinn is going through is a million times worse than anything I experienced (I’ve never seen a live demon), I can defiantly relate to her fear and desperation, her change in personality as she spirals downward into darkness, as well as the desire to feel normal and to keep the knowledge that you don’t, a secret. While there are pieces of me in her, she isn’t me, but my experience helped me understand how she might react when tormented and sleep deprived. It helped me understand why she sometimes acts irrationally and selfishly, and makes her rising from the ashes in book 2 so much more interesting, because she has hit bottom, seen the darkest parts of herself, and chosen to fight against it. How can you recognize the light if you don’t understand the darkness?

2. How many years did it take to get published?

I wish I could say it was an overnight success, but I can’t. My dream of becoming a published writer started before I could barely write a sentence. At the age of four I started dictating stories to my mother who would illustrate them for me. By the age of nine, I was writing plays for friends and binding my own picture books with cardboard and string.  At eleven I tried my hand at a first novel. (No, you can’t read it. It’s buried in a deep dark hole somewhere in the Tasmanian Outback and guarded by a three-headed dingo.) It was then I told my parents I wanted to be published by the age of sixteen. I also told them I wanted to be Wonder Woman, a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, a Broadway star, and an archaeologist. Those dreams faded. I never did get that invisible jet, and I would be a lot older than sixteen before I got a publishing deal, but the dream of being a writer stayed with me. At the age of nineteen I decided to stop dreaming and start getting serious. I joined the Society of Children’s book Writers and Illustrators, joined a writer’s group, read books on writing, went to conferences, workshops, and most importantly, I started writing every day. Some of it was crap. Ok, at first, a lot of it was crap, but writing takes work. After over fifteen years of studying, writing, and querying, my first young adult novel, Pretty Dark Nothing, sold in a two book deal to Month9Books. It’s been an amazing journey and I’m still learning.

3. Is there something specific that you do to get inspiration? (I have a journal that I fill with author signatures as my inspiration). 

Spending time with nature always inspires me. There’s nothing quite like closing your eyes and listening to the birds chirping the trees, turning your face toward the sun, or feeling ocean waves lapping against your feet. It relaxes me, grounds me, and opens up my creative soul. I also love hearing about the journey of other writers and connecting with them online. Reading inspires me as well.

4. First thing that comes to mind when I say: Chartreuse.

Vomit, barf, hurling. Did I mention vomit?

5. Do you have author swag? (Says Nova, looking at author greedily.)

I might have some swagalicious bookmarks, a couple of Pretty Dark Nothing necklaces, and some black nail polish with silver specks that reminds me of Aaron and Quinn talking under the night sky. J

6. I LOVED Pretty Dark Nothing! (Honest!) how did you come up with the idea?

Are you trying to butter me up so I’ll send you some swag? ;-) It worked! :D The spark of inspiration for Pretty Dark Nothing has been brewing my whole life. As I said previously, as a child, I suffered from night terrors and sleep walking. Although I eventually grew out of the sleep walking, the nightmares never went away. I would dream of faceless entities and demons on a reoccurring basis. I spent my pre-teen years trying to rationalize my fear while I spent my nights huddled under my covers with a book and a flash light afraid to fall asleep for fear of what would greet me in my dreams. I kept this a secret from my friends and afraid of what they would think. The dark torture of my imagination lasted through three years of middle school and finally faded. I still don’t think my mother knows how terrified I was of falling asleep and I have no idea why the nightmares stopped, maybe they were my way of coping with the stress of adolescence. I don’t know. When I reached college, I went through a particularly bad time in my life, suffered from depression, illness and the nightmares returned. I wasn’t frightened like I was when I was young; I recognized them for what they were. We all have inner demons we battle, those voices that tell us we’re not good enough, taunt us, paralyze us with fear. That’s when the idea for a novel started to form. I asked myself what would happen if those negative voices, inner demons weren’t imagined. What would happen if they were real and they started to manifest outside the dream world? What if they influenced things around us and what if you were the only one that could see them? That’s when Quinn and the idea for Pretty Dark Nothing was born. Quinn and I battled the demons that tortured her together and in the process, she taught me how to battle my own.

7. Any new books or WIPs that are coming up or yet to be announced?

The sequel to Pretty Dark Nothing is scheduled for April of 2014. I’m also working on a few other super secret projects.

8. Can I have a book recommendation?

I just finished The Archived by Victoria Schwab and LOVED it!

9. Have you ever wanted to change your name to something other than Heather?

Honestly, no. I love my name and can’t imagine being called anything else.

10. Tell readers about a totally awkward author moment! 

Once, I was tagged on Twitter with a link to a one star review of Pretty Dark Nothing. I did thank the blogger, but felt kind of weird about it since I wasn’t sure what else they expected me to do or say about the tweet and the review. It was definitely an awkward situation. While I appreciate all readers who take the time to read and review my book, even if they didn’t like it, being tagged in the tweet felt kind of icky. It’s one thing to run across a bad review, but being tagged in a tweet is different. So readers and bloggers, please think before you tag an author.

11. You write about high school and paranormal. How was YOUR high school experience? 

Painful, wonderful, awkward, hard, full of firsts, heart-breaking, embarrassing, confusing, fun, emotional, frustrating, re-defining.

12. Favorite TV show? 

I can only name one? Past or Present? I’m going to break the rules. Yes, I can do that, it’s my interview. J At Present: Game of Thrones, Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy

Past Shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Farscape, Firefly, Lost, Battlestar Galactica

13. Why do you write YA? 

It’s such an emotional and raw time in life. The future is wide open, it’s a time for exploring life, figuring out who you are. It’s a time full of firsts, of heart-ache, of fear and excitement, of feeling invincible and completely vulnerable at the same time. I remember so much about being a teen that when I started to write, a YA voice is what came out. Sometimes I think my brain is still stuck at age sixteen. Also, teens are awesome to write for!

____
I'm half-sure that she was serious about the swag. But because of this really awesome lady (and her swag sending willingness), I'm not surprised (but I'm still touched) by the fact she's donated something for a giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Heather really is amazing and you should totally check out her book!

Title: Pretty Dark Nothing

Author: Heather L. Reid

Pub Date: April 23rd 2013

Publisher:  Month9Books

Page Count: 321

It’s been twenty three days since Quinn has slept for more than minutes at a time. Demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her, and whispering of her death. The lack of sleep and crippling fear are ruining her life. Energy drinks and caffeine pills don’t make a dent. When Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. The demons are determined to keep them apart, and Aaron from discovering the secret locked away in his memory. Together, they could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.