Heather Woodhaven Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.

A:  I’m a wife of a hunky information technology specialist and a mother to three hilarious teenagers. I find myself in embarrassing moments way to often so decided to use my crazy experiences in stories.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A:  Third grade. I thought the typewriter was the coolest invention. Although I’m glad we got a word processor soon. The amount of White Out I used on some of those early manuscripts couldn’t have been healthy.

Q: What do you write and why this genre?

A:  Romantic suspense and women’s fiction are my staples. I love writing heart-pounding stories, but I also like making readers laugh. Even in romantic suspense, I have a goal to make readers laugh at least once!

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?

A: Totally made up! I’m especially talking to you, Mike. Actually all my heroes have a little bit of my husband in them. Lisa Phillips pointed out that I kept using my husband’s name instead of the hero’s name in an LIS coming in 2017. Oops! Glad she caught that. Other than that, I spend a lot of time trying to develop unique personalities. I hope they feel real, but they aren’t based on anyone I know.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release COUNTDOWN?

A: When Rachel Cooper witnesses the abduction of her neighbor’s young twin sons, she springs into action to save them. But now the thwarted kidnappers are after her…and her only hope of survival is relying on their widowed single father, James McGuire. A weapon has been planted on a satellite James’s company is ready to launch, and as the systems specialist, it’s his job to stop it. But someone is set on keeping James from preventing the scheduled takeoff, and they’ll use anyone close to him as leverage. Now he must find a way to protect his boys and the woman he’s beginning to fall for…before the final countdown can even start.

Q: Where did the idea for this story come from?

A:  Like most of my books it came as a series of random ideas that somehow come together. I got carried away singing to my favorite music while cleaning until I heard someone laugh. A construction worker across the street was enjoying my performance as I had forgotten to close my windows! It made me wonder how much neighbors can know about each other just from their close proximity. I had also read about a congressional report on the effects of an electromagnetic weapon and about the potential to sneak one on a telecommunications satellite.

Q: Tell us a little about your main character and how you developed him/her.

A: James is the third brother (out of four) in the McGuire family. I’ve always known he is a widow and father of two very young boys. He’s also more socially awkward and a math genius. As such, I feel like he’s my most unique hero and needed a very unique heroine to challenge him.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

A:  I just wrapped up the final McGuire brother story and am diving into another Love Inspired Suspense. Alexis is helping a friend by filling in for her pet-sitting service. Unbeknownst to her, the pet is actually a K-9 in training. When the K-9 catches a scent, a handsome veterinarian and Alexis become targets to the drug ring in their small town.

Q: What are some ways that readers of your books can help you as an author?

A:  Send chocolate, write reviews, and recommend the books to your friends. I’m only kidding about one of those. I’m not telling which one.

Q: What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would understand?

A:  We need chocolate and coffee more than you. Actually, maybe how long it takes to get a book from idea stage to the shelves. A reader wanted to discuss a detail about a book that had just released, and I couldn’t remember it because I’d written the story over a year prior to its release. Instead, my head was full of details on the current story I was writing.

Q: Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.

A:  That my mind goes momentarily blank at these types of questions. (hehe) I can’t handle scary or suspenseful movies. With books, I can stop my imagination from getting too visual. If they’ve met me, my bio usually surprises them.

Q: Milk or dark chocolate? Coffee or tea?

A:  Milk chocolate doesn’t count as real chocolate in my house unless we’re desperate. Coffee and green tea make an appearance every day by my side.

Q: Favorite TV show or shows?

A:  That’s always changing. I keep hoping Scarecrow and Mrs.King will make an appearance on Netflix to see if I still enjoy it as much as I did when it first released.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

A: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

A: The final and fourth McGuire brother, Matt, will get his story next spring, and the whole gang will make an appearance in San Antonio, Texas.