The Moonlighters Welcome Heather Kuehl
Please welcome Heather Kuehl into the Moonlight. Heather Kuehl is the author of The Sarah Vargas Series Book Two: Malevolent Dead, which was recently released by Eternal Press. Other books written by Heather are The Sarah Vargas Series Book One: Fade to Black and Promises to Keep. Just Another Paranormal Christmas, featuring a Sarah Vargas short story entitled “The Unexpected Guests,” is due out November 27, 2010. The Sarah Vargas Series Book Three: Blood Moon is due out in March 2011.
Now, it's time to create a little mayhem and get to the good stuff and reveal all of Heather’s deepest darkest secrets in the moonlight. LOL So, grab your favorite wicked drink, sink your teeth into something decadent, sit back, relax and enjoy getting to know Heather Kuehl.
MLM: The holidays are fast approaching and things always seem to get busier during this time of year. Do you have a relaxing technique that helps you de-stress? If so, please share, because this is advice we all need!
HK: I always try to have my holiday shopping finished by Halloween, or Thanksgiving at the latest. I started to do that a couple of years ago and it’s cut all the holiday stress out of my life.
MLM: What, if any, Thanksgiving traditions (decorating, gathering with friends and family for a meal, etc.) do you have?
HK: I’ve never really been big about Thanksgiving, but now that my son is getting older I think I do need to develop a tradition or two. I like crafts, so maybe decorating. Definitely not cooking though; I’m a horrible cook, LoL.
MLM: What was your most memorable Thanksgiving and why?
HK: My most memorable Thanksgiving was in 2008. I had just given birth to my son a week before, and most of the family was in town to see him. Everything seemed so surreal, because never in my life did I expect to become a mom.
MLM: What is a must have food at your Thanksgiving dinner table?
HK: My Mom’s cranberry nut bread. It’s melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and I look forward to it every year.
MLM: Tell us 3 things you are thankful for this year, please.
HK: I’m thankful for my son, who is happy and healthy; I’m always thankful for having a roof over my head, not everyone is so lucky; and I’m thankful for my family.
MLM: Just for fun, if you could be among any of the original members of that first Thanksgiving, who would it be, the Pilgrims or the Wampanoag (Native Americans)? Why?
HK: The Wampanoag. Native American culture has always interested me and it would be fun to see it first hand.
MLM: NaNo is popular among authors each November. Maybe it's so popular because it helps self-motivate so many of us during the encroaching holidays. Did you commit to NaNo this year? If yes, do you have any advice how to make NaNo a success? If no, what was your driving motivation to stay strong and avoid the month I've deemed "crazy NaNo"?
HK: LoL, yes I do commit to NaNoWriMo. It’s so inspiring to know that there are thousands of writers out there trying there hardest to pen a novel. I mean, if they can do it so can’t I! To make sure I get to 50,000 words, I set a daily goal for myself; write 2,ooo words a day. Sometimes I write more, sometimes I write less, but no matter what I try to write every day. Last year my story, which would become my latest release with Eternal Press Malevolent Dead, wrapped up at 22,000 words. Even though I didn’t finish NaNo, I finished a story and that’s all that mattered to me.
I’m proud to say that I am listed on the published Wrimos page of NaNo’s website. My book Promises to Keep was written during NaNoWriMo 2006 and was published by Eternal Press in March 2010.
MLM: Swashbuckling pirates like Johnny Depp are sexy—Argh!—but e-pirates are not! How do you handle e-pirates in your writing world? Do you have any advice or wish to share any experience with other writers? Anything you wish to say to e-pirates in general?
HK: I hate e-pirates! They don’t realize how many people they hurt when they illegally download. Sadly, it’s bound to happen. My advice is to always stay professional and report the e-pirate to your publisher to see if they can fix the problem.
MLM: Now, let’s get to know a little more about your writing, Heather...What genre do you write and what’s the draw for you?
HK: I write paranormal/fantasy romance. In my world, one can see a dragon fly overhead during the day, get bitten by a vampire at night, and fall in love with a werewolf under the light of a full moon. It’s so much fun to play in a world where anything can happen. When I first started writing I wrote high fantasy, swords and sorcery and dragons. As I grew as a writer, I discovered vampires and werewolves and started writing about them. But I missed my dragons! One day it dawned on me that this was my world, and I could have dragons in it if I wanted to. Since that day I feel head over heels in love with the world I created. I don’t think I’d enjoy writing any other genre more.
MLM: If you could describe your writing with a word or phrase, what would it be? What do you want readers to take with them when they've finished reading your story?
HK: Discover a world where dragons roam the skies and vampires own the night… I want readers, when they are finished reading my books, to walk away knowing that anything is possible no matter the odds.
MLM: Imagine for a moment you're granted ONE wish with regard to your writing. It can be anything you want—besides becoming a national bestseller, because what author doesn't want that, right?—your imagination is your only limit here! What would you wish for?
HK: My one wish would be to be able to walk in to a chain bookstore, like Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million, and see my book on the shelf. Right now, that is my ultimate goal. Once I reach it, I’m sure I’ll upgrade my ultimate goal to something more lofty.
MLM: What do you dislike the most about being an author? What do you like the most about being an author?
HK: I dislike the criticism. I mean, what author doesn’t? I don’t like it when people review my books and complain about how short it is. I know that’s also a good thing, because usually it’s because they want more, but it’s hard to write longer books without filling it with useless clutter.
What I like most about being an author is when someone tells me that they read my book and loved it. There is no better feeling in the world than to know that someone, besides yourself, appreciates your hard work.
MLM: Who decides what you write about, you or your muse? What kind of influence do you have over your story, or is the muse always the one basting the turkey?
HK: I come up with the characters as well as how I want the story to begin and end, but my muse guides the story. When I get writer’s block, it’s usually because I did something with those characters that my muse didn’t like. I have to go back and fix the problem so my muse will continue the story.
MLM: Have you ever based a character on a real-life person? If so, why? Was it simply to immortalize them or was there more to it than that? If you can, tell us who this person was without revealing their identity! We’re all curious here!
HK: Of course! What writer hasn’t? I’d love to share who the characters were based on, but those particular ones are villains in my books. I call it villain therapy. They did something to hurt me (the real person not the character) and I never got a chance to tell them how I felt. Thanks to the wonderful world of fiction, I am able to take my anger out on them.
MLM: What character did you have the most fun creating and why?
HK: Sarah Vargas, the main character in my Sarah Vargas series, was the most fun to create. She was born from a song lyric by Sublime, and I’ve been having so much fun getting to know her. She’s so angry at the world for the hand she’s been dealt. Writing from her point of view is like doing a science experiment, you just want to see what happens.
MLM: If you had the opportunity to meet just one of your characters in real life, who would it be and why? Which of your characters would you never want to meet under any circumstance and why?
HK: I’d love to meet T.D. Drake. She’s a bad-ass witch as well as my favorite character. What I wouldn’t give to be able to talk shop with her… I’d never, ever, ever want to meet the Skyner twins. Jerrikin and Jackilin Skyner are pure, psychotic evil. To meet them would mean certain death.
Fade to Black blurb:
Werewolf bounty hunter Sarah Vargas has only one goal in life; to kill the Were that attacked and changed her. However a slew of werecreature murders send Sarah and her partner, Jared Fontaine, on the mission of their lives, ending with a discovery about Jared’s past that might destroy them both.
Malevolent Dead blurb:
Werewolf Sarah Vargas thought all she had to worry about was the Blood Moon Corporation's retaliation. She never dreamed that another vampire would arrive, disputing Damian's claim over the throne to Charleston, SC. To make matters worse, he is no ordinary vamp; he's a vampire necromancer. He's exceptionally hard to kill, and Sarah will have to do what ever she can to keep those that she loves safe... Even if it means doing the unthinkable.
Blood Moon blurb:
After she broke her contract with the Blood Moon Corporation, Sarah Vargas knew that it was only a matter of time before they came for her. What she didn't know is what lengths they would go to to make sure that she had no where to run. Everyone Sarah has every relied on is in danger during a time when friends become enemies, and Sarah quickly realizes that the Blood Moon Corporation will never give up until she is dead. The Blood Moon Corporation is coming, and even Sarah doesn't think she can make it out alive.
Buy Links
Malevolent Dead: Book Two of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press
Fade to Black: Book One of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press
Promises to Keep, Eternal Press
Coming Soon
Just Another Paranormal Christmas, Mojocastle Press (11/27/10)
Blood Moon: Book Three of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press (3/7/2011)
EXCERPT from “The Unexpected Guests,” featured in
Just Another Paranormal Christmas:
“Not only is it an honor to have the Du’Rah attend Damian’s event, it’s a danger,” T.D. said. She had sat upright on the bed and had her hand resting on the butt of her gun.
“Damian told me what happened at the last party they attended,” Sarah said. “No survivors.”
“They don’t attend parties to have a good time,” T.D. said. “They do it to take out competition.”
Jared and Sarah turned towards the witch. “What?”
T.D. nodded. “To become a Du’Rah is a very high honor, one gained only through age. There is no task to complete. You could live in a cave your whole life and still get inducted into the Du’Rah. They attend the galas of those chosen for the honor, and then find a reason to be displeased with them. The music wasn’t right. They didn’t have a Du’Rah’s favorite blood. The costumes offended a member. With displeasure comes death.”
“Then why are they attending Damian’s Christmas party?” asked Jared. “I mean, yes he was alive when Rome fell but there has to be vamps older than that.”
“There are,” said T.D. after a moment. “But Damian’s an interesting creature. He wasn’t born during Roman times Jared. Not only has he been a vampire longer than you can fathom, but he was born into vampirism. He has known no other life. The Du’Rah must feel threatened by this.”
“He’s been chosen to become a Du’Rah,” stated Sarah.
“We might as well been given a death sentence.”
Note from the author:
Just Another Paranormal Christmas is an anthology published by Mojocastle Press, benefiting the Armed Forces Children’s Education Fund, Inc. For more information about this wonderful cause, please visit their website:
http://www.afcef.org/
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