What steps did you take, or what life choices would you say lead you to the success you have today? With that said, any advice for aspiring authors?
—STINA FITRAKIS
P. C.: Joining the USAF before I finished high school and going active duty five days after I graduated taught me very young the value of tenacity and hard work. I served six years active duty. In the military you do not give up when things get tough, and that’s a lesson that has stayed with me ever since. During my USAF years I gained confidence, independence, and an excellent work ethic, which definitely helped me get published.
My advice for aspiring authors is twofold: (1) Treat the job of being an author as you would any other career. Educate yourself about how a manuscript becomes a book on the shelf of Barnes & Noble. Learn what agents and editors do and don’t do. Take off the rose-colored glasses too many people view publishing through and be realistic about your chosen career. (2) Hone your writing skills. Pay attention to everything you write—and that includes emails, tweets, and Insta posts. What you write represents you. Always.
K. C.: I’ve worked really hard on creating a great circle of people around me. For a long time, I felt like I had to minimize my successes or laugh off my passions because I was trying to fit in with the wrong people. Eventually I realized that I am in charge of who I let into my life. Taking the steps to cultivate personal and work relationships with kind, successful, motivated people has made such a difference in my life.
My advice to aspiring authors is to read (or listen to) as many books in as many genres as you can. Take note of what inspires you, how authors describe scenes and characters, what you love and what you loath. Every book is a class on writing.
I have followed the HoN series from the beginning, and there have been some life lessons I have taken away from the series. So my question is, what is the biggest thing you would like your readers to take away from the series?
—HEATHER MAY
P. C.: I want my readers, especially young women, to take away the knowledge that they can and should make mistakes, learn from them, and then do better without carrying around the baggage of judgment and hypocrisy under which the patriarchy likes to smother us. Double standards should be called out, barriers should be smashed. I also want the HoN stories to help my readers open themselves to others who are different from them—to know that what’s important is the quality of a person’s character and not the color of her or his skin, what goddess/god she/he does or does not worship, or her/his/their sexual orientation. Basically, I hope HoN has taught its readers to believe that the strongest force in the universe is love—always love, and to live their lives accordingly.
Out of all the characters in the series, who would YOU choose to be in your circle?
—BRANDALYN MARTIN
P. C.: Zoey! She has an affinity for all five elements and the blessing of a goddess.
K. C.: Shaunee! I love me a good fire spell.
When writing not just this series but any of your books, do you have any specific routines you follow, something that helps you focus or keep you motivated to write?
—MAUREEN GURNEY
P. C.: Well, if I had to, I could write anywhere, but I’m fortunate to have a lovely home office. I prefer to write on a treaddesk (yes, I walk and write). My desk holds specially chosen crystals, and I always light scented tealights. I’m a tea snob and I have lots of fabulous loose-leaf teas that I brew and drink while I’m writing, too. My dogs and cat hang out around me and I usually have some kind of orchestral music playing softly in the background.
K. C.: Listening to the mixes I create in the Relax Melodies app through my Bose noise-canceling headphones keeps me focused. Without my headphones, I just stare at my computer. They really put me in the zone.
My question’s for both of you: Which character will always stay with you? How much of the locations and cultural factors were from Oklahoma when writing this series? And were there other places y’all pulled from?
—NATASHA VANNATTA
P. C.: The entire Nerd Herd will always be with me. After fifteen years of writing them, they are part of my life forever—and I couldn’t be happier about it!
I’ve said many times that Tulsa is more than just a location in the HoN. Tulsa is a character. Shining a spotlight on the close-minded, hypocritical Bible Belt culture is a big part of why I wrote the HoN and set a society of Pagan, matriarchal vampyres deep in the middle of evangelical land. I’m happy to say that I’ve watched hordes of Oklahoma teens grow up to be inclusive of others unlike themselves and question the subjugation of the Bible Belt patriarchy. I hope HoN had something to do with that.
K. C.: Like P. C., the entire Nerd Herd will always stay with me. But if I had to choose just one character, it would definitely be Aphrodite. I love her story and her transformation.
If you could bring back a character from any books prior, who would it be and why?
—SARA ABRAHAM
P. C.: Jack! Which I did in writing the HoN Other World books. He is the personification of kindness and love.
What was your favorite
