Interview with Sarah Hegger

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

I write both medieval and contemporary romance.

Medieval draws me because of the magical and fantasy elements of knights and castles. I’ve always loved wandering around ruins and making up stories about the people who lived there.

Contemporary has a different appeal for me. It enables me to tell the stories that I see around me in every day life. It gives me an outlet to delve into issues around women that I want to explore.

In Nobody’s Princess, I explore the idea of how women perceive themselves to have value. I think as women we spend far too much time allowing people to value us by the way we look.

What is your favorite part of writing?

Actually, I really enjoy editing my first draft and shaping it into a second and third draft. I’m a plotter, so my first draft is more of a color by numbers exercise as I fill in the gaps between one plot point and the other. Once I have the story down on paper comes the fun part of making the characters come to life, and building the world around their story.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

I have two. I don’t love getting that first draft on paper. It seems a little mechanical to me. Working out the plot before I fill in the words is wonderful, and then making the story and characters come to life is equally fulfilling. The way I work means that I need to get that first draft on the page before I can do anything with it, so it’s often a bit of a word slog.

The next bit I don’t like is going through the galley, which is the last time I see the book before publication. Again, it’s a mechanical exercise and at that point all I’m doing is checking for typos and mistakes. Reading through a galley brings all my writer insecurities up to choke me. Maybe it’s the knowledge that I can’t change much anymore that suddenly makes me hyper aware of all the things that I should have changed before we got to this point.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

I’m tackling two new projects at the moment. As I write in two genres, I have one of each on the go.

On the medieval side, I am finishing off books 3, 4 and 5 of my Sir Arthur’s Legacy series, telling the stories of Sir Arthur’s remaining children William, Roger and Henry. Book 3, Conquering William is scheduled for release at the end of August this year.

On the contemporary front, I’ve started a new series called “The Ghost Falls Series” (I’m still working on this series title). It’s a small town romance series set on the Utah/Colorado border and the first, “Positively Pippa” in due for release summer 2017. If you’re a fan of “What not to Wear” and “Love, Lust or Run” you might be interested to know I used Stacy London as the inspiration for my heroine, Pippa.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Very likely, so be warned. I can’t say that I’ve ever taken an entire person and put them in a book, more like bits and pieces that caught my imagination, or phrases they’ve used that I just loved.

Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?

A little of both. Other romance writers have been the biggest support system in my journey. Unfortunately, I might have saved myself a good portion of struggle if I’d listened to all the wonderful advice given to me before I made the mistakes I made.

No, my first manuscript was nowhere near ready for publication when I submitted it. Yes, I did make all the newbie writers mistakes in it, and no, I didn’t do my research on who I was submitting to before I went for it.

It took me a while to realize that people really did know what they were talking about, and I would have saved myself a lot of heartache if I’d just listened.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

I’ll read just about any genre. What draws me into a book are strong characters, and if you make me love your character, I’ll enter any world you want me to and stay there for the duration of your character’s journey.

Has your muse always known what genre you would write and be published in?

No. In fact, I started out wanting to be a modern day Georgette Heyer, and wanted to write Regency romance. Once I’d written my first manuscript in Regency, I realized that it wasn’t for me. I was much more suited to the rough and tumble of the medieval period. My husband made the suggestion that I try contemporary, and he’s unashamedly claimed credit ever since.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. I started down that path as a young adult, only to end up doing a variety of different jobs to make ends meet. Strangely enough, writing was the one constant throughout all my career reincarnations. It seemed to be a tool I used whether workshopping theatre pieces, writing press releases when I drifted into PR, designing questionnaires for my brief stint in market research, or even drafting copy for the advertising industry.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always had this idea in the back of my mind that I would write, but it wasn’t until my fortieth birthday that I decided to pursue it seriously. My twenties and thirties are littered with projects I started and then stopped, but something about turning forty made me realize that if not now, then when.

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization?

I’m a member of the Romance Writer’s of America, and they’ve been the most incredible support system. Everything from shoulders to cry on, through craft workshops, advise on submission and publication, and all the way to individual authors like Terri Osburn and Madeline Hunter who have gone out of their way to help me.

RWA is more of a community than anything else, and the generosity of its members to writers at all stages in their journey make it a must for anyone wanting to write romance.

Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?

I want to share the same words of encouragement I heard at my very first Romance Writers of America conference – just keep writing. Write, write and write some more and you’ll get there in the end.

Nobody’s Princess Book Blurb:

Sarah Hegger is back with another delightful Willow Park Romance, but this time the road to love might be a little bumpy…

Tiffany Desjardins has a plan. Well, she had a plan, until her past and all its complications came back to haunt her. Her not-quite-ex-husband, Luke, is missing, and suddenly everyone needs to find him–including Tiffany, if she wants to marry the true man of her dreams. Then there’s Thomas Hunter, Luke’s brawny friend, who won’t take “no road trip” for an answer–and who won’t stop showing up in her daydreams…

Thomas couldn’t care less about Luke’s personal life, but he needs to find him if he’s going to make his fledgling minerals and metals company a reality. And if that means following Tiffany, who’s taken off in Luke’s rare Lamborghini Miura, he’s more than willing–especially if there might be a chance to negotiate some of Tiffany’s lovely curves. As Tiffany and Thomas speed along without a map, the only destination that seems certain is being together…

“Sarah Hegger’s voice is rich and witty and in a word, addictive.”–Terri Osburn, author of the bestselling Anchor Island series

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/21ShazC

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1M5pErn

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1lxWVGX

iBooks: http://apple.co/1lSiOjM

Author Bio:

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Littleton, Colorado, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

Website: http://sarahhegger.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahheggerauthor/?ref=hl

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Hegger/e/B00KC50U9Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1449772560&sr=8-1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahHegger

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sarahhegger

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahheggerauthor/

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