Photo Interview: Kelley Heckart

EQ: Welcome to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Kelley: Thank you for having me at EQ. I am a multi-published author living in Arizona with my husband and dog. When I’m not writing or editing, I enjoy photographing nature outside in my backyard and going to the archery range.

EQ:Tell us a little bit about your most recent release.

Kelley: My most recent release is Daughter of Night, a fantasy romance set in ancient Greece: Two mortals are caught in the midst of the battle between the Titans and Olympian gods.

I am inspired by the beauty of the world around me—by the clouds, the sunsets, the moon, my backyard, the natural stones and items I use to make crosses out of driftwood, my dog, my husband’s music. All of this leads to ideas and motivation for my writing muse.

Pic #1 of Mike playing bass: My husband inspires me with his music and his willingness to support what I love to do. I like to listen to him play while I am writing.

Pic #2 of Loki: My dog inspires me to let go and live in the moment and to take breaks from writing throughout the day to recharge. He shows me that play is a good way to relax and refocus.

Pic #3 of Moon: The moon has a spellbinding effect on me and is a regular feature in my stories with otherworldly creatures and magic.

Pic #4 of one of my Crosses (Carnelian Moon Cross): Working on my crosses helps to stimulate my creativity. I find inspiration in the natural materials I work with.

Pic #5 of my Backyard: My backyard is full of inspiration—filled with nature’s beauty and alive with animals that entertain me. I just happened to capture this special moment of these two hummingbirds together. It looks like the male is courting the female.

Find Kelley Heckart at:

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

 

Author Interview: Kelley Heckart

EQ Welcomes Kelley Heckart!

EQ: Welcome to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Kelley: Thanks for having me at EQ. I live in Arizona with my husband and two dogs. My stories are a mix of history—Bronze Age Greece, Dark Age Scotland, Roman Britain—and fantasy/mythology and romance. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been drawn to these long ago places where magic seems possible. When I’m not daydreaming, writing, reading, working as an editor/proofreader or doing research for my next project, I make decorative crosses out of driftwood.

EQ: What are your top three guilty pleasures?

Kelley: Mounds bars, Facebook and the Lifetime movie channel. I used to make fun of the Lifetime movies and now I watch that channel more than any others. I get a kick out of watching movies with titles like The Nightmare Nanny, The Husband She Met Online, Sexting in Suburbia and The Preacher’s Mistress. Most of these movies are actually pretty good, too. The Lifetime channel ranks up there with SyFy and the CW, two more of my favorite time wasters.

EQ: What kinds of male characters do you prefer to write?

Kelley: I write non-Alpha male heroes and here’s why: Alpha males do not make good romance heroes for me. They strive for that adrenaline rush and would rather spend time with their “bros.” They aren’t interested in settling down. I like to create male heroes (a cross between an Alpha and a Beta) that can stand alone, make their own choices without having to rely on approval from their male friends and don’t have to always be proving themselves. And my heroes don’t have a problem falling in love with a strong female. I do have Alpha male characters in my stories, and they are sexy, but they don’t end up with the girl. There was one Alpha male character I created that I fell in love with (King Galan from Cat’s Curse and Beltaine’s Song) and some readers loved him too, but he wasn’t right for the heroine.

EQ: What is something nobody would guess about you?

Kelley: Probably that I used to play bass guitar in an all-female hard rock band. We even had groupies that would come to all our gigs. I was pretty wild and had some crazy experiences. I met some famous musicians like Michael Schenker and Michael Anthony of Van Halen, and also met some really weird but nice people with names like Rebel and Disease. The strange thing is when I do book signings I still seem to attract “different” people.

Other titles by Kelley Heckart:

Of Water and Dragons, Ravenwolf

White Rose of Avalon

Cat’s Curse

Beltaine’s Song

Winter’s Requiem

Daughter of Night

The Enchanted Meadow

Find Kelley Heckart here:

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

The Genesis of a Book - Cat's Curse by Kelley Heckart

My inspiration for Cat’s Curse:

I set out to write a story set in Scotland. I knew I wanted the hero to be cursed and that the heroine was going to be a vampire, but I had no idea what time period I wanted to set the story. For inspiration, I purchased this book on eBay called In Search of the Picts. As soon as I came across an Irish king named Aedan mac Gabrain who ruled in the southwest of Dark Age Scotland from 574AD to 603AD, I knew I had found my hero and my time period.

According to historical records, The Irish Annals, The Life of Saint Columba and The Welsh Triads, Aedan had a shadowy past, living near the Forth River in a time when Scotland was called Alba. During this time before he became king, he may have fathered a future king of the Picts. He was a contemporary of St. Columba and in the Welsh Triads, he was called “Aedan the Treacherous.” As king of Dal Riata, he fought and won many battles, some of these battles were against the Picts. He was one of the most feared warlords of his time.

He fascinated me and I came up with an idea for a curse that revolved around his clan, Brigit (a Tuatha de Danaan goddess), Cailleach (an ancient goddess known in Ireland and Scotland) and an ancient Greek vampire. This curse is connected to the legend of a winter and summer goddess and also connected to the final battle between the Sons of Mil and the Tuatha de Danaan. Aedan mac Gabrain inspired me so much that Cat’s Curse ended up being the first book in a trilogy.

Blurb for Cat’s Curse:

A Celtic prince, an ancient vampire and two curses…

Cardea, follower of the Great Goddess, is cursed to live an eternity as a blood drinker. For centuries she has lived with hate hunting and feeding off humans. Now she finds herself at the end of a sword blade held by the most handsome and arrogant man she has ever met. 

Aedan mac Gabrain, prince of Dal Riata and a Christian, trusts no one after suffering a curse that keeps him from touching any females or he will turn into a black cat like his brother. He especially distrusts this strange female who could be the one who cursed his clan since no one knows Cat Anna's true face.

Can two tortured souls find love while battling a dark goddess determined to destroy them?

Cat's Curse (Bk 1), Beltaine’s Song (Bk 2) and Winter’s Requiem (Bk 3) are all available now in Print and Ebook.

Buy links: http://kelleyheckart.com/BookShelf.html

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604