From Heather...
I feel like I was always meant to write. In sixth grade I discovered that I wanted to be a published author, and wrote hundreds of stories trying to get there. I started writing high fantasy because of my love for dragons. Around high school I discovered vampires and switched genres, but something was missing. I loved the magic of fantasy just as much as I loved the vampires of a paranormal world. Why can’t I do both? I asked myself, and created a world where you can walk outside and see a dragon fly by above office buildings and get attacked by a vampire that night.
Fade to Black started with a music lyric by Sublime, “Life’s too short so love the ones you’ve got, cuz you might get run over or you might get shot.” I was in my college creative writing class, and the assignment was to write a short story based off the song lyric that you pulled out of a hat. The second I read that line, Sarah Vargas appeared in my head. She was enraged at the werewolf that changed her and wanted nothing more in life than to hunt it down and kill it. By the time the assignment was due I was on chapter three and was showing no signs of stopping. It was then that I knew that I had something special.
Somewhere in the middle, I think around chapter nine, I hit a brick wall. Sarah had gotten herself injected with liquid silver and now had the strength of a human. She didn’t like it, and it got to the point that I realized that the plot could go no where with her like this. So I sat down, read through what I had, found where it went wrong, and started a rough outline from there (by the way, I do rough outlines now from the start so I don’t run into problems like this). With the liquid silver edited out of the story, we could move on and before I knew it I was finished!
I knew it was going to be hard to get Fade to Black published. Paranormal was so popular, especially vampires. I hoped that I could make a name for myself by writing about werewolves rather than vamps, especially since I thought the vampire trend was on the decline (I cannot see the future, so I didn’t see Twilight-mania on the horizon). Another thing I thought would set me apart was setting my book in Charleston, SC. I live about 20 minutes away from Charleston, so I knew the area and could describe it well. It has history, dating back to the late 1600’s. Most vampire books I had read were set in a big city or a small town; Charleston was neither. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, but it was a long time coming. Agent after agent rejected my book until finally I started looking at smaller presses. After all, ebooks were quickly becoming popular. What better way to break out! Eternal Press accepted Fade to Black and it was published in October 2009.
However, Fade to Black was not my first novel. My first novel was written in high school and featured a woman named Starlette. She was reeling from the death of her parents and wanted to seek revenge on the sorceress that did it. Everything about it showed how inexperienced of a writer I was. The dialogue was unbelievable, the plot twists made no sense, and the characters were just plain dull. But the plot had potential. I rewrote it during National Novel Writing Month, changing much of the story and making it ten times better than the original. Starlette was now a strong independent women looking for her father than was kidnapped by a sorceress. I didn’t polish up that manuscript until Fade to Black was accepted for publication. You can read Starlette’s story now, entitled Promises to Keep. It was published by Eternal Press in March 2010. It’s my baby and I’m so happy that I was able to finish it and share it with you.
Working with Eternal Press has been a blast. I especially love how they do the cover art. Most publishers have someone make up the art and the writer has no say in how it looks. However, Eternal Press has you fill out a form asking you what the characters look like and what’s going on so they can make the art meaningful. The same artist did the cover art for all three of my books; Amanda Kelsey. She’s done such a wonderful job. Sometimes I think she can take a peek into my brain, it’s that spot on.
Speaking of cover art, the art of Malevolent Dead is just gorgeous! I love how it complements Fade to Black. Which is a good thing, since it is the sequel. It takes place six months after the events in Fade to Black.
Here’s the blurb: To save everyone, she'll have to do the unthinkable. 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. Exceptionally hard to kill, Sarah will have do what ever she can to keep those that she loves safe... Even if it means doing the unthinkable.
I hope to have Eternal Press accept the last book in this series, Blood Moon, but first I have to finish writing it. I have so many ideas for so many books, I’m sure you’ll see my name a lot over the next several years. Hopefully on the New York Times Bestseller list. Hey, a girl can dream!
I would like to end this was some advice for writers; never give up. Keep writing and know that your first draft is never perfect. Personally, I’d recommend staying away from self-publish markets. Not a lot of people take those seriously yet and it might hurt rather than help. Work hard and you can reach your dreams.
Grab your copy of Promises to Keep and Fade to Black today, available from Eternal Press and Amazon.com. Get your copy of Malevolent Dead from Eternal Press on September 7th.
Heather Kuehl is the author of Promises to Keep, Fade to Black (#1 Bestseller in fantasy eBooks on Fictionwise.com), and Malevolent Dead as well as numerous short stories and poems. Visit Heather online at http://www.heatherkuehl.com/, http://www.heatherkuehl.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.




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