Heartquake
by Terry Newman
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Coffee shop owner, Charlee Lightheart, views corporations with contempt. She believes her father died at the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. When she's approached to run for city council on an anti-fracking platform, she's reluctant. She's not sure this movement is her cause.
Billionaire
Riley Brockton has given up on love. Then he walks into Charlee's
shop. All he wanted was coffee and muffins. From that first
electrifying touch, he knows he needs more. He withholds one piece of
vital information: he's a lionshifter.
A
rogue reporter sets out to reveal the one secret that can destroy the
anti-fracking movement and the couple's relationship. Can their love
survive the truth and public exposure?
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What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
Top 10 authors?
My list changes a lot, so here are the ten authors that are my favorite at this point in time and who’ve inspired me to become the writer I am today. Remember, these are in no particular order.
1. Gore Vidal. Really popular in the 1970s, his historical novels showed me another side of public figures, notably George Washington and Aaron Burr. After reading him, I acquired a love of history and renewed my desire to write fiction.
2. Janet Evanovich. Love her Stephanie Plum series. I learned from her that comedic writing has value. Her novels gave me the courage to write a romcom, Rewrites of the Heart, which is with my editor right now.
3. Jessica Bird. You may know her better as J.R. Ward, the author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Her romances are truly wonderful and her style was a huge inspiration for Heartquake.
4. Charlaine Harris. And it’s not because of the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you’ve never read her Midnight Texas trilogy, you’re missing out on endearing characters. I highly recommend it.
5. Madeline L’Engle. Oh, my goodness. I love A Wrinkle in Time. I didn’t see the movie because I didn’t think it would be as good as the book. I know it’s a children’s book. I read it in when I was in the sixth or seventh grade. I couldn’t wait for my daughter to love the book, so I read it to her when she was a child.
6. Dan Brown. Yes, I said it. I love his intelligent plots. I started with The DaVinci Code and soon made my way through all of the books. I highly recommend his non-Langdon books as well. If Deception Point and Digital Fortress aren’t on your TBR list, make a note now.
7. Brandon Sanderson. Fantasy. This man is a master of worldbuilding. He draws you in and you don’t want to leave. If you’ve never read him, start with Mistborn. It has a female protagonist. That’s a plus.
8. Jim Butcher. The Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is the only opening practicing professional wizard in the US. It’s a great series and really introduced me to paranormal novels.
9. Agatha Christie. My favorite character: Hercule Poirot. Her knowledge of how to kill people is amazing and, just a tad, scary.
10. Jack Kerouac. I read the beat classic, On the Road, in college and it has stayed with me. Excellent, evocative writer. Highly recommend.
What book do you think everyone should read?
George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984. You probably thought I was going to recommend some romance or a biography, didn’t you? I’m fascinated by politics and think these two classics tell you everything you need to know about human nature and politics. And they are timeless. You can see parallels to the events in these books all over the world.
How long have you been writing?
Ever since I learned how to read. Yes, I was a weird kid. You know when you’re in grade school and you have a list of ten spelling words? And the teacher told you to use each one in a sentence? I was that nerdy kid who would make a story out of them.
I remember I really fell in love with writing when I was in the sixth and seventh grades. I loved endowing inanimate objects with live. I wrote a story about Penelope the Pencil and her husband Percival.
I also spent weeks on a short story that involved two girls being chased by a UFO. I have to tell you, I had many dreams about UFOs growing up (I still have a few to this day.) I think it stems from the fact that I read Chariots of the Gods? By Erich von Daniken. If you’ve never read it or have never watched Ancient Aliens on the history channel, it’s about the visitation of aliens to our planet as recorded in the Bible.
Do you see writing as a career?
I see writing novels as my second career. I’m semi-retired now. (Yeah, I’m old.) And writing really was my first career. My very first job as writer was as a reporter in a small town in northeast Ohio. From there, I bounced around being a freelance reporter and eventually landed a job as the editor-in-chief of a small natural health publishing company. I ghostwrote the books, as well as the direct-mail advertising that was sent nationwide. I also worked for its sister company, a natural health supplement firm as a direct-mail copywriter.
Wait, there’s more. I did a short stint as a communications specialist with the Harley-Davidson plant in York, PA, as a temp. My last gig, though, was being a freelance writer in which I wrote articles on just about every topic imaginable as well as e-books. I don’t think there’s a topic I haven’t covered. And thanks to the internet, I’ve written for clients on all the continents (well, except for Antarctica. Those penguins do their own writing.)
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
I hate to write in complete silence. While too much noise is distracting, I find complete silence equally so. I like to have some quiet meditation music in the background and sometimes even the news so I can just hear it, but it doesn’t command my attention.
My favorite place to write is a coffee shop, because there’s just enough background noise. Okay, I also like to listen in to conversations. You never know where you’ll find your next novel.
Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
I’m currently fascinated with every character in Charlaine Harris’ Midnight, Texas series. Midnight is a speck of a town that appears ordinary as you pass through, but really is home to people who live not-so-ordinary lives. If you haven’t read it, I don’t want to spoil the surprises in the book.
Because of the writing style, you get to know each character so well, Fiji, Bobo, Manfred, Chuy and more. And I can’t forget Lemuel and Olivia.
I’m terrible at choosing favorite characters because they all have traits I love about them. And in Midnight, Texas I found an entire town of wonderfully unique people.
Do you have any advice to offer for new authors?
I’m not sure I’m qualified to be handing out advice for new authors. I feel as if I’m a new author myself. There are some lessons that took me way too long to learn. I’ll pass these on.
1. Believe in yourself.
Always. I know there will be days you have that nagging doubt. Should I really be doing this? But the answer is always yes. If you have the desire and drive to sit down and attempt to write, then you have a story to tell. And it needs to be heard. Believe in yourself.
2. Age doesn’t matter.
I put off writing because, well, I had to make a living. Right? The rent or mortgage doesn’t pay itself? Then I had a family. Of course, their needs come first.
So, you’re older now and you think it’s too late. It’s never too late to start. In two years from now, if you do no writing at all, you’ll be two years older. If you start writing today, you’ll still be two years older and possibly be the author of at least one novel. When you look at it that way, the choice couldn’t be clearer. Go for it, regardless of your age.
3. Hone your craft.
If you can’t afford to pay for them, find free ones. You can find them on the internet. As much as you can afford to join organizations. Join or start a local writing group. Talk writing with anyone who will listen. Develop your style. Try to learn from as many people as possible. Even if it’s only learning what not to do.
4. Read, read, and read some more.
All genres, all authors. Classics, the latest releases. When you start to write, you’ll read with a different eye. You’ll discover styles you like and you’ll tinker with in your own novels. You’ll be inspired by characters you discover in those books.
5. Never, ever give up.
If writing is something you’re passionate about, don’t you dare give up on your dream. Please, don’t give up.
What are you currently reading?
I just went to Barnes and Noble the other day and bought Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. I’ve never read it and I’m only starting it. One of my goals is to write a dystopian novel and I want to see how she created her world.
On that same trip, I also had my first blind date with a book. If you haven’t heard of that, you have a choice of books to choose from and each is wrapped in brown paper or some type of wrapping paper. In this case, each package had the book’s opening line. I couldn’t wait to unwrap it. Ice Planet Barbarians, by Ruby Dixon. I’ve just started that one, too. It looks like a fun read.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Of course, I’ve experienced. But lately I’ve tried to minimize it by recalling what Brandon Sanderson, the fantasy author, says about it. Often, a writer will get stuck because they don’t know exactly what the next phase of a scene looks like.
That statement is true for me. I don’t plot; I seldom outline. If you would look up the word “pantser” in the dictionary, my name would be there.
I think about Sanderson’s comment when I get stuck. If I can’t make it through a scene, I’ll write something stupid like “I’ll figure this out later,” and move on with the flow of the story. As an author it’s important not to let it overwhelm you. If you do, that small issue can blow out of proportion and you begin to doubt your ability. And writers carry around enough doubts already. We don’t need to add any more.
Terry Newman has always loved words. As the editor-in-chief of a national natural health publishing company, she has written books on a variety of topics, as well as writing direct-mail advertising.
She’s also worked as a reporter, a communications specialist and a freelance writer. She’d had clients worldwide, and researched and wrote hundreds of eBooks and print books as well as ghostwrote novellas and short stories.
One day she woke and decided to make her dream of writing her own novel come true. She sets all her stories in fictional towns in northeast Ohio and writes about things she loves—like coffee.
Terry has led workshops on writing and character development.
She has a daughter, a son-in-law, and a grandpuppy, and lives in North Lima, a real town in northeast Ohio.
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