I met Heather Snow thanks to a tweet.
I tweeted and she e-mailed me in response.
I liked what she had to say and now here she is.
In her introductory e-mail, I learned that Heather is a debut romance novelist with two young boys. Her first book came out in February and her next book comes out in August.
This is the way it works sometimes in this brave new world of social media. You see a tweet, you respond, you land a spot in a giveaway, and who knows what will happen next!
Please help me welcome, Heather.
About Heather Snow
Heather Snow is a historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather than in the lab. She is forever trying to wrangle her left and right brain to work together (some days with more success than others!), but if her two sides had to duke it out, left would win every time—which can be a creative challenge. Luckily, she loves challenges…she just goes about solving them analytically.
Heather lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat. She sincerely hopes you find her stories have just the right chemistry…
Please visit her at www.HeatherSnowBooks.com, on Facebook www.facebook.com/authorheathersnow or on Twitter www.twitter.com/HeatherSnowRW.
About Sweet Enemy: A Veiled Seduction Novel
Geoffrey Wentworth, a war hero and rising political star, never wanted to be the Earl, but when his brother dies, he knows his duty—take up the responsibility for his family’s estates. His mother’s definition of duty differs from his, however, and can be summed up in one word—heirs. When Geoffrey rushes home to answer her urgent summons, he finds himself host to a house full of women, all vying to become the next Countess of Stratford. But his love is Parliament, where he wields his influence and reputation to better the lives of ex-soldiers, until a tempting houseguest and a secret from his past threaten his freedom…and his heart.
Liliana Claremont, a brilliant chemist, doesn’t want to be any man’s wife, much less a countess. If she had tuppence for every time she’d been told her place was filling the nursery, not experimenting in the laboratory, she could buy the Tower Bridge. However, when she receives a coveted invitation to the Earl’s house party, she trades in her beakers for ball gowns and gladly takes on the guise of husband hunter—for the chance to uncover what the Earl had to do with the murder of her father.
Liliana believes the best way to get the answers she needs is to keep her enemy close, though romance is not part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can’t control…
The Very Short Interview
When did you know for sure that you were a writer and that writing would be a major energy focus in your life?
I’m going to have to say it was the day I sold, and realized that with that contract came deadlines! Sweet Enemy was my first completed manuscript, one started just before our eldest son was born, sort of to see if I could do it. I’d always liked the idea of writing, but hadn’t made a serious effort at it until then, and since I was writing about a Regency era lady chemist, I wasn’t sure anyone else but me would find her interesting. I was shocked when it sold so quickly, and was just as quickly thrown into the life of a working writer! It’s been very exciting, and also quite challenging, particularly because our second son was born shortly before the deadline for my second book.
Who has always been behind your writing career and who helped pull you up the ladder of success?
I’m blessed with an incredibly supportive family and friend network. I wouldn’t have had the courage to start writing if not for the lifelong support of my mother, who always stressed that I could do anything I set my heart to. Nor would I have been able to do it without the encouragement and sacrifices of my husband. As for people who pulled me up the ladder of success? There are so many. The romance writing and reading community is amazing, the authors so giving of their knowledge and time and advice—everything from workshops on how to write better, to my awesome critique groups, to readers who love our work and spread the word. There isn’t enough space in the blogosphere for me to list every person who has been a part of this journey with me!
What is the most frequent comment you hear about your book (or books) from readers? Tell us a little story about the response to your work.
I’ve been so thrilled with how people have reacted to Sweet Enemy—they’ve loved the unique chemist heroine and viewing the Regency through her analytical mind, they’ve loved the mystery elements. But I think the most surprising comments I’ve had are from readers who don’t typically identify themselves as romance readers. Either they won the book in a giveaway, or a friend (or in one man’s case, his wife!) insisted they read it, or someone in their book club picked it—and they loved it! That’s been very gratifying, and hopefully will encourage some of those readers to give other romance novels a try. There are so many AWESOME authors in our genre!
And Now, Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. You remember how this works right?
I ask you a question. You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! I hope to see you here every day this month. Bring your friends!
Tell us about your romance with writing. Has it been tumultuous, steady, or unrequited? Describe your relationship to writing and the impact this tone has on your ability to succeed or not succeed?
Ready, set, comment!
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My romance with writing has been tentative with me as the
untrusting partner wondering if writing is really the one for me. Yet, like a
patient, supportive husband, writing grounds me when I lose touch with who I am
and gently pushes me to take chances and discover myself all over again. What
could be better?
Writing is a love-hate relationship, unrequited for years. Growing up I searched for my biological father and was rejected by him each time. Twenty years after his death two of my siblings came looking for me. My life poured out in our correspondence. Each time I expressed how our “father” influenced my life I learned something about him and about myself. As the relationship with my “new” brother and sisters developed I was excited, angry, joyous, hurt – on a daily basis.
Gathering documents since I was a child, encouraged, all these years by my childhood friend, in 2008 I recognized time was running out. By 2010 I had an outline and rough draft. Each time I revised I let go of a little anger and forgave my father a bit. Forgiveness has been a slow process. My writing improves with each revision. At the moment it’s in the final stages-the decision- memoir or novel? How to handle the next steps? I’m still intimidated about the family response to the truth but I can’t let that stop me. The need to finish forces me to push on.
The Book Club has been a tremendous source of inspiration and encouragement.
In my life my romance writing has always been there for me. Steady and strong my imagination just keeps rolling lol. I have been writing for years and always love it. It is the one place I’ll turn when in need from a broken heart or excited with happyness. I’ll write it down as soon as I can! Although Im a day dream and this romantic notion of mine might be whats slowing me down to succeed.
My romance reminds me of my high school boyfriend..”Austin”. I had the desire before I knew what to do with it. Just like Austin, My inexperience and frustration caused us to break up for awhile…there was a season I didn’t/wouldn’t write anything. But slowly but surely…a short article here, an interview there…led up to my first self published book. Austin and I have different lives now…I’m married to an awesome man, we both have children etc.. but even now, he has a “drawer” in my life. He is truly my friend and a holder of many secrets about me. I can count on him. I can call him from Jail or Jerusalem, and I know that he would be there for me. I am so blessed to have experienced a love like that, everyone can’t say that. Writing is my constant…its always there. It too is the holder of many secrets and I can always count on it to be a place of safety for me. I will always have a place that is carved out for him…uh, I mean writing..I like who I am when I am with him…darn…I mean it!! 🙂
Writing with me was love at first write. The first time I let myself go and engage in a story I knew I found my purpose. All my characters are soul mates that live within my mind. There are many days that I feel like the neglected girlfriend. I sometimes think I expect so much from my writing and feel hurt when the reality differs from the dream. Thankfully my love for writing is unconditional or I would have ended the relationship along time ago;)
For the most part my writing life has been steady – with bouts of passion thrown in for good measure. The key for me has been not to give up on the relationship when the going gets tough – when things go off track or when your idea well has run dry. I make writing a daily habit – even if it means I only write down a couple of sentences or write an outline – I view it as a nurturing of myself.
I’ve been a cheater with writing—I have many mistresses: my
family, my friends, books, my job, and of course, the internet. I’m not as
dedicated as I’d like to be. Oh, I love to write, but I’m just not as good at
it as I’d like, and for many reasons I find myself easily distracted away from
writing. I wait for inspiration to strike like lightning, rather than actually sticking
with it to finish a novel over time, or an article in 1-2 sittings. Nope. I
bounce around like a vending machine rubber ball, from one thing to another. I’m firmly convinced the reason this lack of dedication is why I’m not as successful as my peers.
Gosh, I’d say my love affair with writing is constant,
however the ability to do it consistently ebbs and flows, likely because I seem
to be addicted to being over-extended. When I have a lull in my schedule, am well
rested (rare these mommying days) or prioritize my needs above those of my family,
my imaginative juices overtake me and I get to write away.
I can best describe our relationship as
on-again-off-again. I’ve always been the steadfast one, and he of little faith.
Oh how I wanted to make it work in those early years, and as a consequence, tried
way too hard. It was only after I backburnered our little romance, and gave
myself a bit of distance, that I thought we might still have a chance together.
So I gave writing one more try 5 years ago. I see that we’ve both grown up a
bit in the meantime, and I really think that this time, we’re in it for the
long haul.
Writing was my very first love, and it has flourished into a long-term affair for me. It is important to me economically since it makes me money, but writing has always been an integral part of my life. I get a little bit of separation anxiety from writing on days that I take off (which are very few). Even if I am not writing for work, I at least have to jot something down creative to keep our relationship going. Sometimes we do hit dry spells, but we find ways to get creative and get the juices flowing again.
I fell in love with writing when I was 9 years old. It was summertime and there was nothing to do, as usual. I was bored. My mother handed me a copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ and told me to read it. I reckon she thought it would keep me occupied for the entire holidays. It did. And when I was finished reading it, I began it again from page 1. [We didn’t have a whole lot of books in our house back then!] I remember how my heart raced as I read. I remember how I couldn’t believe that it was possible to feel so alive through the medium of words. I remember how I vowed that one day I too would be able to write like that. I fell in love when I was 9 years old, and I never strayed or grown unfaithful. My desire has yet to be fulfilled. But I’m a patient and persistent lover…..
If my novel were my lover, he would feel incredibly jilted. I pick him up when the mood strikes me. I lavish attention on him for an entire night – sometimes two or three. Then I tell him I’m too busy and please go away for awhile. If he makes a scene, I shove him in a drawer to keep him quiet and out of sight. Sometimes I think of him as I lay awake at night and fantasize about what could be – if only I had the time. Months go by. Suddenly, the urge strikes and I pull him out again. He’s powerless to resist as I massage his sentences, tweak his scenes, tickle his paragraphs. When I’ve had enough, back in the drawer he goes. Someday, when I’m done with him, I’ll sell him. His fame will make me wealthy. And no matter how many readers he tempts to sample the prose between his covers, I’ll always know I was the first. He belongs to me.