So, today's Ask the Author is going to be a bit different from ones in the past. I received an e-mail asking me about my past, and what has influenced me to write the fiction that I am now writing. So, today you'll get a brief narrative on yours truly ;)
I have been writing as far back as I can remember. As a kid, I wrote stories about animals. As a pre-teen and teen, I wrote romance novels for myself. Having always been intrigued by history, I also began writing historical fiction and non-fiction as a teen as well.
Historical non-fiction became my bread an butter from that point on, so to speak. One of my "specialities" was a history of women's struggles, feminism, and some very unique and brave actions of specific women in history. I think focusing on strong women throughout history was a good lead in for the fiction I write today. If you look at my characters, they all have tremendous depth, strength and power. They're all incredibly strong, intelligent and motivated women. That's definitely something I took with me from the women of days gone by.
The stories in Loving Her came about two ways. First off, Jen and Liz were these random characters that popped into my head in about 2003. I had no idea what to do with them, or what their story would be, so I just kind of "held on to them."
Then, in 2006, I saw this cute blonde girl working tremendously hard at a pizza parlor outside Philly, and she was the catalyst to write Linda and Katie's story. As I began to write their story, it dawned on me that Liz & Jen now had a home. All the other characters and their stories kind of came into place. So, Loving Her was my first real venture into fiction, and kind of happened by chance, so to speak.
Carol in Imperfect is very much a reflection of who I am. She was inspired by a certain actress, but her personality is all me. Alex in Imperfect is a much stronger character. I'm not sure where her powerful personality came from, it might come from my roots as a historical non-fiction writer ;) The exciting news is that Imperfect will be out later this summer! Stay tuned for that! Imperfect is my first full-length novel, and it will touch your heart!!! :)
Lastly, Lareina in my up-coming suspense novel is a big reflection of my nerdy side. Physically, her build is identical to mine, but she's a Ph. D. student in algebra. Yes, I'll admit it, I LOVE algebra! LOL. Anyway, she uses that intelligence and her quick wit to stay alive and help lead the police to come to her rescue. She is the woman I hope I would be if I was to be kidnapped and tortured as she was, but she's really quite extraordinary. She's strong, beautiful, intelligent. She is a woman we should all aspire to emulate. I'll keep you posted on the release of this book as well. ;)
In other news, I have some very exciting news from Vanilla Heart Publishing!! Check this out:
Loving Her is now published online at Smashwords and ready for immediate sampling and purchase!
* L.E. Harvey's Smashwords Author Profile: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/leharvey
* Book page to sample or purchase Loving Her: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2401
I hope you'll take time to check it out at Smashwords, where you can sample the first 25% of the book for free.
Please check it out & spread the word!! :)
Thanks so much, and happy reading!! :)
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