Today, I am stroking my own ego. Why? I say, why not?! LOL. :)
Once again, I will proudly announce that Unbreakable Hostage is coming out in print in the very near future. For those of you who are like me and actually enjoy HOLDING your book, this is the perfect opportunity for you, now isn't it? :)
As well, for those of you who don't know that I am an uber nerd, there is a fan page for Unbreakable Hostage on Facebook! I have discussion boards & more on there. Please check it out & feel free to become my newest fan! ;)
http://www.facebook.com/leharvey77?ref=profile#/pages/Available-at/Unbreakable-Hostage/260115552240?ref=mf
As you may recall, Vanilla Heart Publishing was hosting its Grand Opening for the Yahoo Readers group. We all had a blast! It was great talking with other authors & readers. Here are a few snippets from this weekend:
On getting to know the VHP authors:
Lauren & my middle initial E are true. Harvey, however is not. As many of you
know, I am half Hispanic (the rest is Irish, Czech & Hungarian. If you need to
know how to curse someone out in an obscure language, I'm your gal! LOl).
Anyway, Harvey is clearly not a surname of any Hispanic origins! LOL. Since my
books are rather political (in tackling issues of racism & prejudice towards
people in the GLBT community), I write under the
name Harvey to protect myself and my family. Not that I have anyone coming
after me at all, but when not in Vegas, Philly or NYC, we do live in a tiny
town, and with a three year old, it's best just to err on the side of caution.
:)
Like Malcolm, I tend to use a lot of references that come from my past.
In Loving Her, Katie is a vet student at U Penn, where I used to teach
veterinary anesthesia. Liz drives a 1977 Chevy pick up, which just happens to
be my ride. ;) She's also a big Metallica fan, which she just so happened to
pick up from me! LOL. :)
Lareina is my name in Spanish, so that's how she got her name in Unbreakable
Hostage (can we say ego maniac?! LOL). Oliveira is a family name (and a fairly
common Hispanic name), so that's how Lareina's full name came to be. :)
Will, a co-worker and good friend of Carol's in Imperfect is completely based
off one of my dearest friends! LOL. Ironically, his name is Bill. I was going
to keep it as Bill, but there's another character with a B name. Imperfect is
chock full of characters, so I had to change small details (like the B to the W
for Will) in order to make it clear to the reader who was who. :)
I often reference music, shows and/or movies that I love. If a reader doesn't
understand the movie reference, I apologize. There's a scene in Imperfect where
Carol unlocks and opens the door for Alex because she was thinking about how in
"A Bronx Tale," they say that if the girl opens the door for you, she's a
keeper. I love throwing in small trivia like that. It makes the writing
experience that much more enjoyable.
I also think that we have an infinite library to choose from when it comes to
life experiences, people, music, movies, etc. Almost all of my names come from
someone in my past, people I know, etc. Just as in Malcom's case, the names may
not mean anything to my readers, but they are small little details that just add
some flavor to the story for me.
What turned you into a reader?
I don't remember not reading. Even when we were older, my
mother would still read to us just to give us some family time. My mother has
always been a big reader, so like you I grew up around books.
Reading and writing have always been a integral part of my life as long as I can
remember and I certainly plan on keeping it that way! :)
I'll admit that I am selfishly grateful that my little step-daughter LOVES being
read to. I want to ensure that she reads books because she wants to and that
she doesn't read simply because it's obligatory for school.
Thread on how a story begins:
LOL. My sleepus-interruptus comes after I start! Once I start writing a book,
I am a slave to my characters. They LOVE to haunt me at night! :) I lack
sleep greatly when working on a project! LOL.
For me, a story typically starts with a sight. Whether it's someone's face, a
scene or place, or even a small object. I see something and the story around
that vision just falls into place. :)
(Part II)LOL, Smoky! :) We ALL have those voices! I remember how my mother looked at
me as if I had 3 heads when I saw a panel of authors on a show talking about how
their characters speak to them & the story writes itself & I completely agreed!
I was maybe 10 at best! LOL. :)
Ok, I'm gonna end this here because I am just plain tired! LOL. Haven't had any sort of caffeine yet, and it's already after 10 am! I've got to get in gear!
Happy reading, y'all! ;)
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