Interview with Heather Graham, New York Times Bestselling Author

 

This fourth Saturday of  June,  I had the pleasure of interviewing New York Times Bestselling Author, Heather Graham. Here is what the delightful Heather had to say.  

1/ So, tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey in one paragraph or less.

I was the typical reader-kid, always wanted a book, and my folks, my mom an Irish immigrant, the Graham clan from Scotland, had wonderful history books for me to read. But I majored in theater and worked in dinner theater and the occasional commercial for a few years before we had three of the five kids, and it just wasn't paying enough for me to keep going to work. Trial and error in writing, and then a book sold, and I remain grateful every day of my life that I have been privileged to do this for a living.

 

 2/ I’m intrigued by your heritage and your multi-cultural family. Can you share a bit about how you were brought up? Do you attribute such open mindedness to progressive parents?

 I'm sure. To this day, I remember special things about my folks. Two quotes from my dad are always with me--"Water has no color, neither does the human soul," and "There's nothing wrong with most religions, only the way that men have chosen to twist them." My mom was Google before Google--when she couldn't answer a question, she pointed to our encyclopedias and said, "Let's go find out!"  Her family regaled me a child with wonderful stories about leprechauns and banshees and the fairy folk and I loved being a kid and listening!

 3/What made you want to become a writer? 

I love books. They get us through the worst of times. They fascinate, and they teach. Maybe it's my way of continuing the oral tradition that was so much a part of my childhood!

 4/Who was your first sale with? 

Dell publishing. No! Ist was a short horror story to Twilight Zone magazine, now gone, in Canada. My proudest 15 dollars ever!

 5/ What have been some Highlights of your career? 

Being honored as a ThrillerMaster by ITW, definitely, and going on a USO tour with ITW and seeing our troops at the Kuwaiti border, and attending the Sharjah International Bookfair with ITW, too. I love my groups, ITW, MWA (Shout out to my incredible Florida Chapter!) HWA, and Sisters in Crime. People. Every conference is special. Fiction writers are the best, warm and generous. Just home from ITW. Also grateful for my Silver Bullet for giving endeavors, and my Distinguished Author Award from Southwest Florda Reading Festival and so many others. People are the biggest highlight--cons are places where you can meet your heroes. R.L. Stine isn't just amazing with all his wonderful story creations, he's an amazing, kind, and generous human being. Something true of so many of the "names" I've met, bigger and small!

6/ Tell us about what made you change genres? 

I always read anything out there. And still have ideas for different genres and, of course, today, we're mixing them, and I love it!

7/We’ve all been rejected at one point or another, any advice on how to handle rejection? 

Hm, either figure out how to fix a problem, swerve around . . . and keep going! Never, ever give up. Some people I know who struggled--even for years--are at the peak of the top now!

8/What’s your writing day like?

 I never know. I had kids, I watch grandkids sometimes . . . it's a bit like a Dr. Seuss novel. I will write on a plane, on a train, in a car, going far! Some writers have hours--I've always gone by a John Lennon quote--Life is what happens while we're busy making plans. So, no set schedule, just deadlines and discipline. 

9/ How did your conference Writers for New Orleans get started? Why do you continue to keep it in New Orleans?

Right after Katrina. I've been in love with New Orleans since I went with my dad on a business trip as a kid. I was in soon after Katrina and a friend owned one of the carriage companies at the time--she was worried sick, frustrated with government help, extremely grateful to the American people--but, like so many others in the city, desperate to get back to work, to give to charities again instead of trying to live on charity. She looked at me and said, "You can have a conference!" I explained that I wasn't at all sure how many people I could get into the city, and she told me, "Oh, please, get someone here, and it will be like a hair commercial, a friend will tell a friend will tell a friend . . ." So, with Connie Perry, we put it together at cost only so that people could go out and spend money in the city. It's still at cost only. Our first game and silent auction events gave to the NOLA libraries and now we'll sometimes do St. Judes, Shriners, or an animal rescue site. 

10/ You have a love for water, did I hear you’re a scuba diver? 

Yes, love, love, love the water! Soon enough, we'll be using our cell phones down under. But right now? Just you and a different world!

9/ If you weren’t a writer what would you be and why? 

I'm not at all sure! My other love was theater. Hm. LOL. Not sure I can do anything else now!

11/What are you working on currently? 

Ah, a couple of things in the fire! A crime novel on the use of AI to commit murders, a "Romantasy" using the Tuatha de Danann (from my Irish childhood!) and a sequel to a young adult series (The Rising, Blood Moon) with Jon Land. We also have another project going and I'm not even sure how to describe it, but also pushing the buttons of the times we're moving into.

12/ When it comes to publishing, what do you think is the next  big trend?

 I don't--figured out that if you're writing for the next big trend, there will probably be a new one by the time you finish your epic!

13/ How can we reach you?

 My web site! I love social media, but I can't guarantee I'm on it!

You can find out more about Heather here:  https://www.theoriginalheathergraham.com/