Rebecca Hefner
Today I am honored to bring to you a remarkable SFR author Rebecca Hefner. Rebecca and I had a Q&A sessions and she had some insightful items and juicy tidbits to share with us. Hope you enjoy the read!
Me: What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
Rebecca: They're not literary pilgrimages, per se, but I am an avid solo traveler. When I left my corporate sales job to become an author, I traveled the world for a year and went to Bali, Japan, Alaska and other places. I saw some amazing sights and they certainly inspired scenes in all of my books. For example, I saw the most amazing sunset in Zushi, Japan, overlooking the ocean. I used that backdrop for one of my scenes in The Darkness Within and I think it's still my favorite scene in the whole book!
Me: Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each books?
Rebecca: As a romance author, I really enjoy writing series. It's important for me for all the characters to be connected. Like every romance novel, each book has its own featured love story and hero/heroine, but we meet other characters in each book who will get their own featured story down the road. Romance readers (like me!) really enjoy following these characters' lives throught a series and they almost become friends to the reader in a way.
Me: How long were you a part time writer before you became a full time one?
Rebecca: I've always loved to write and actually had a poem published in a small anthology when I was a teenager. However, I never even imagined becoming a full-time author. One day, over a decade ago, the characters of Miranda, Sathan, Etherya and others appeared in my head and I began writing their story, never intending to publish it. Now, years later (and many writing classes and discarded manuscripts later!), I'm finally putting their stories out to the world and am so thrilled when readers connect with these fun, complex, strong characters who live in my head!
Me: How do you select the names of characters?
Rebecca: Writing fantasy is fun because I can make up names! For my Etherya's Earth series, I made up a lot of the names. Darkrip is a very dark and mysterious character, so his name was fun to generate. His sister is named Arderin, which was just so pretty when I said it out loud. There are other names I made up and I also use traditional names as well.
Me: Does your family support your career as a writer?
Rebecca: Absolutely. My mom has been so supportive which is amazing considering that I write some pretty steamy scenes in my books. At first, I thought her Southern belle heart might be offended but she really enjoys the books and reads each one. It makes sense since I used to sneak in and read the romance novels she kept hidden in her room when I was a teenager! I know she loves the steamy scenes, even if she won't admit it!
Me: What inspired you to start writing?
Rebecca: Miranda, Sathan and their fantasy world just appeared in my head years ago and I thought it wouldn't hurt to write down the stories. Eventually, the manuscripts kept evolving and I realized I had a series. After that, I mulled for years and finally decided to take some writing courses to improve my skills and see if I could get the stories out to the world.
Me: How do you come up with the title to your books?
Rebecca: I love coming up with titles. I try to think of the one overarching theme of the book and put that in a title. The Reluctant Savior is probably one of my favorite titles, as it really encompasses Evie and her inner war of good vs. evil.
Me: Have any of your books been made into audiobooks?
Rebecca: Yes, all four of my Etherya's Earth books are in audio format and I'm currently producing the audiobook for A Paradox of Fates.
Me: What was your favorite part, or least favorite part, of the publishing journey?
Rebecca: As a self-published author, there is a lot to learn. I do everything myself: marketing, formatting, writing (of course!), social media - everything! I think the thing I like least is formatting. I'm in my forties and not tech savvy, so figuring out how to format for different publishing platforms is maddening. But I need to be able to format my own books, so I can make changes, so I power through and now I'm pretty good at it. I spent a lot of time watching videos on YouTube to figure it out!
Me: When you're writing an emotionallly draining scene, how do you get in the mood?
Rebecca: I love writing emotionally draining scenes. In the Reluctant Savior and my new book, The Impassioned Choice (out May 5th!), tears streamed down my face as I wrote the most emotional scenes. For me, that means it's connecting and I hope those scenes will connect with other readers!
Me: Where can we find your books and you online?
Rebecca: Here's a list...
The End of Hatred: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KP1W877
A Paradox of Fates: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0845QHZ6Y
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebHefnerAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccahefner/
Amazon: http://author.to/RebeccaHefner
Website: www.rebeccahefner.com
Me: Thanks Rebecca for sharing all of these tips with us.
Too da loo
Linda
