Secret Worlds Author Spotlight: Debbie Hebert

SECRET WORLDS available for only 99₵ for a limited time! Get your copy now!

KINDLE | NOOK | KOBO | iBOOKS

Today, I’d like to welcome Debbie Hebert to my blog. Debbie writes paranormal romance novels reflecting her belief that love, like magic, casts its own spell of enchantment. She’s always been fascinated by magic, romance and gothic stories.

Married and living in Alabama, she roots for the Crimson Tide football team. Unlike the mermaid characters in Siren’s Secret, and Siren’s Treasure, she loves cats and has two spoiled feline companions. When not working on her upcoming books, Debbie enjoys recumbent bicycling with her husband as well as spending time with her two adult sons.

A past Maggie finalist in both Young Adult & Paranormal Romance, she’s a member of the Georgia Romance Writers of America. Debbie has a degree in English (Berry College, GA) and a master’s in Library Studies (University of Alabama).

JET: Can you tell us about your most recent book?
Changeling, part of the 21-book Secret Worlds set, is a reverse fairy tale about a human baby raised by the fairies. I’d always been curious what that would be like . . . so I made up my own story.

Despised by the fairies, the changeling meets a teen witch that just might be his ticket out of the fairy realm, if he can resist her quirky charm.

JET: What drew you to paranormal romance?
I’ve always been fascinated by magic and a sentimental kind of gal. I love that romances have happy endings – they are a great escape!

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?
Finding an agent for representation was a humbling, difficult experience. I had hundreds of rejections. Looking back, I see that my earlier work wasn’t ready for publication, although it was the best I could do at the time. I don’t know how I persevered through all the rejection, but I’m so glad I did.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?
It’s a tossup between the day my agent called to tell me Harlequin had bought my book and wanted a sequel, and the day my Harlequin editor phoned and told me she loved my stories and was excited to work with me. It was worth all the years of disappointment!

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?
Oh boy, I’m going to date myself here! I loved a book entitled, Harriet the Spy, and used to pretend I was one as well. I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott over a dozen times, and loved Jane Eyre for the romance and Gothic feel.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?
I always wanted to be a writer but the dream seemed unrealistic and I married young and started a family. When I retired from the day job eight years ago, I knew it was time to begin in earnest instead of the occasional scribbles I’d played with over the years.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?
I researched some crazy, dark kind of material in writing about a serial killer. But the most fun I had researching was learning more about dolphins and other sea creatures for paranormal books that have mermaids as the main character. The octopus is extremely curious and intelligent. It can use tools and is a fascinating escape artist when held in captivity. In my book, Siren’s Treasure, I feature a mermaid encounter with a curious octopus.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?
That’s so hard! I’ll have to say the last book in my mermaid trilogy, Siren’s Call, which will be released June 1, 2015 my Harlequin. It featured a mermaid character who was fairly unlikeable in the previous books, so this story was all about character redemption. Another aspect that was fun, is that I incorporated the Choctaw legend of mermaids in the story.

JET: Any advice (from a writer’s standpoint) for the novices out there?
You’ve heard it before, but don’t let rejection stop you from always striving to write better stories and reach your publication dreams.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten...starting with Star Trek or Star Wars?

Star Wars.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

I’m suspicious of tofu.

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Beach all the way.

JET: Leather or Lace?

Lace, I’m super-girly.

JET: Angels or Demons?

Angels.

JET: Twilight or True Blood?

Twilight. (Team Jacob)

JET: Salty or Sweet?

The two mixed together is unbeatable – I love to mix M&Ms with popcorn.

JET: Cat or Dog?

I’m the crazy cat lady. I have two cats and want more but my husband thinks two are enough. Silly man!

JET: Chocolate bar or Ice cream?

Chocolate! I crave some now.

JET: Dark chocolate or White chocolate?

Must I choose? Sigh. Okay, dark. But I love white too!

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?
I’m writing a paranormal romance that is Native American mythology meets Southern Hoodoo. It’s tentatively entitled, Bayou Shadow Hunters, and is under contract with Harlequin.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Debbie Herbert and her work at the following places:

Website | Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter

Until next time,

Ciao.

JET

Secret Worlds - Changeling

SECRET WORLDS

Secret Worlds, a best-selling boxed set of spicy paranormal reads, is brought to you by twenty-one USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Authors! With twenty-one stories and over a million enchanting words of fiction, this paranormal romance boxed set will keep you spellbound. Dive through Secret Worlds and into the arms of heroes who will steal your heart and leave you hot.

PREORDER NOW for $0.99

KINDLE | NOOK | KOBO | iBOOKS

 My novel, Changeling, included in the boxed set, is a (full-length) New Adult paranormal romance.

Somebody is murdering the Pixies. They've been dropping like flies in this small college town. Skye's a teen witch who sucks at spells and is skeptical about the idea of winged Tinker Bells. But strange things have been going on at the metaphysical shop, The Green Fairy, where she works nights: black specks of movement out of the corner of her eye, mysterious buzzing noises, unidentified dragonfly carcasses in the basement, and a hidden cache of absinthe (aka fairy crack). Kheelan is a human changeling. Raised with the fairies, he's viewed as an inferior species whose only use is to serve his kidnappers. He's been totally screwed by the Fae and his only goal in life is freedom. When he meets Skye, he sees an opportunity to escape. The last thing he needs is to be distracted by feelings for this quirky witch. Skye stumbles upon the remains of dead fairies and is approached by Kheelan who has been sent to investigate the pixie murders. Funny thing is--he looks exactly like a part-time employee of the store who has autism. Skye falls for Kheelan, only to discover he's using her to win his freedom. Hard to believe she's really half-fairy and has secret powers when she can never get a spell to work right. But one night, after years of painful backaches from what she thought was scoliosis, Skye discovers a pair of sprouted wings. As Samhain, the witch's Halloween, draws near, she must make a bold move to claim her heritage and power, restore order in the fairy realm, and try to win Kheelan's freedom and love. Absinthe, autism and augury meld into a paranormal cauldron where everything is not what it seems and the fairies are sly tricksters who can trap you in their realm.

Dishing it up with Morgan Gallagher

Hi folks, today we’re dishing it up with Changeling author, Morgan Gallagher! Morgan is in her late 40s, and should know better about spending her writing life with vampires. However, she has no choice, as they refuse to go away and leave her alone. She lives in the Scottish Borders, with her husband and their six-year-old son. A full time career for her husband who is severely disabled, Morgan also works as a volunteer for several charities and is passionate about the rights of babies, children and mothers. She has campaigned vigorously against child detention during immigration procedures. She and her husband home educate their son and attempt to keep a never-ending stream of cats under control. The North Sea pounds their fishing village every winter, and every major storm, the entire family are to be found in the car parked on the headland admiring the view. Apart from the cats, that is, who are at home dreaming of summer.


JET: Can you tell us about Changeling?

Morgan: Changeling is a dark and brutal tale. Almost literary in its detailed depiction of day to day lives and living. It’s about a young woman who goes out one night for a night out with her office, and disappears. She’s been taken by a vampire. A very old, very controlling and extremely psychotic vampire. He is not a dark prince, and he is not a hero. He’s a complex psychological mess, and he slowly tries to dismantle his plaything. His plaything, Joanne, is made of sterner stuff than he thinks. Slowly, they change each other. Joanne, the girl, isn’t aware he’s a vampire for a long time, the reader is. In that, there is a great deal of horror. The book is about a battle of wills, and who wins.

JET: What drew you to writing about the paranormal?

Morgan: It’s what I’m best at. I’ve tried to be other things. I’d rather be a science fiction writer. Failing that, fantasy. I’m terrible at science fiction, truly dire. I’m okay at fantasy. In the dark, however, my gift flourishes. I’ve always loved horror. I’m an avid reader. The darkness always mixed well with my background, being Scottish, being brought up with lots of legends of dark powers and lost souls being tricked to their death... it’s natural to me I guess. It’s just what comes out best, when I write. We don’t get to choose what we’re good at!  And I’ve always loved vampires….

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

Morgan: Dealing with how to portray extreme violence, male to female, without it being either gratuitous, or fetishised. It’s hard stuff to write, and it’s incredibly difficult to read. A couple of beta readers and a reviewer couldn’t hack it. It’s been hard to expose myself by being both so honest and open, and by allowing the story to be what it needs to be.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

Morgan: My first review. I was terrified, and the author who did it, Betty Carlton, hit it in one. She understood the book, and why it was the shape it was, and how it worked. That was pretty awesome. A close second is the private email I got the week of publication, from a reader who stated the book had helped her cope with her own past, and was healing for her. Reader feedback has been just the best thing. When you spend so long on a book, you somehow think it’s never gonna get out, never gonna get read. And then people you don’t know, have never met, are buying it and thanking you. That’s just wonderful.


JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

Morgan: It’s a long list! Harlan Ellison, Anne McCaffrey, Stephen King, John Wyndham, James White, Tanith Lee, Minette Walters, Arthur C Clarke, James Herbert, LM Montgomery, The Brontes, Jane Austen, I could go on for some time....

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

Morgan: I’ve always known. I was given a typewriter for my fifth birthday. A real one: not a toy. I read the way I breathed; without thought of it. It was the same for writing. I started my fist novel at 12. A spy novel!

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

Morgan: Standing around in the North Sea winds in winter, being hit by a sideways wave of water in freezing temperatures, photographing gravestones. Thankfully, it was so bitter cold, and so wet, no one else was around to witness the madness. Most interesting fact? My, you do ask interesting questions. I genuinely don’t think I can answer that, given that my head is packed full with nonsense about so many things. Oh, I know. What happened to the Cemetery of the Innocents in Paris in May 1780. That proved that truth is waaay stranger than fiction. It’s a tiny footnote in the second book, but boy, is it just amazing. Why yes, I am a tease, what made you ask?

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

Morgan: Changeling. Always will be. It’s my darling. My child. I have other children, but Changeling is the book where I speak the clearest about things that touch me.

JET: Any advice for the novices out there?

Morgan: Write, write write. It’s the only way. It may take ten years to find your voice, it may take twenty. But the only way you have of finding yourself in the words, is to keep churning them out. Write, write, write. That, and find a good editor. Always.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten. . . starting with: Paper or Plastic?

Morgan: Paper.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

Morgan: Steak

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Morgan: Beach, but not in the Summer. I like my beaches wild and windy and crashing. You won’t find me on a towel under the sun.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

Morgan: Country

JET: Paper or Digital?

Morgan: Paper.

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

Morgan: Both. I’m a film teacher.

JET: Coffee or Tea?

Morgan: Tea

JET: Salty or Sweet?

Morgan: Salty

JET: Top 10 best seller or Unknown Back Shelf Find?

Morgan: Unknown Back Shelf Find

JET: 2012 Mayan Prophecy Believer or Ain’t Gonna Happen?

Morgan: Puhleese. *rolls eyes*

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

Morgan: I should be working on the sequel to Changeling, Lucifer’s Stepdaughter. But when Changeling went out, I found room in my brain for something else. So I’m working on a short horror novel named Bedlam Maternity, set in the East End of London in the present day. I’ll put it out in about 4 months, hopefully, and them get back to Lucifer’s Stepdaughter.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Morgan Gallagher and her work at the following places:

Buy Changeling: Amazon UK Amazon USA Smashwords

Author Pages: Ethics Trading Amazon UK Amazon USA

Contact Author: Novel Blog Twitter: @DreyfussTrilogy FaceBook


Join me on Monday when Deborah Riley-Magnus shares her Manic Monday with us.

Until then,

Ciao

JET