Today’s interview is with Ellie Heller, an up and coming writer of fantasy and suspense. She currently lives in New Jersey with her kids, cats and Bob, the dog who was supposed to only grow to be fifty pounds.
1. Where are you from? I grew up in the city in Chicago, excluding a two year break around second grade when I lived in Philadelphia. For high school I went to a very bohemian boarding school in the middle of Iowa corn fields, which was a bit of a culture shock! As for college, I dropped in and out of college because of my finances, so I was all over the Midwest at several small liberal arts schools.
2. What do you do to unwind and relax? LOL, I write and read to unwind and relax. Makes ‘work’ a lot more fun. Although completing and finishing novel is hard work, the beginning - figuring the characters and plot out and putting everything on paper - is relaxing and fun for me. The editing, though, well let’s just say I know everyone has parts of their job they like less than others.
3. Tell us a bit about your family. There are four of us, my older brother, me and my twin and a younger sister. My parents split when I was in second grade. My mother remarried twice before she passed away five years ago. My father remarried once to a wonderful woman he is still very much in love with.
4. When and why did you begin writing? This is one of those I don’t remember ever not writing! I love stories and ideas and find fiction a much more interesting way to express myself than nonfiction. The only A+ paper I got in one college class was for a ‘letter’ I wrote as my essay piece. I guess I should have known then that fiction was the way to go!
5. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? That’s easy, the ladies here! They are honest and up front and wonderful for making you see what needs work, what does work as well as what your strengths and weaknesses are. My twin sister has also been a big influence. We used to write together and even have a complete YA comedic novel done. However, it needs a LOT of that dreaded editing.
6. What genre are you most comfortable writing? I find I write mostly fantasy with romances in them. Whole worlds and societies with customs and taboos which the hero and heroine have to work around. Fun!
7. What is your current project? I am working on a contemporary fantasy; that is a story set in today’s world but with fantasy elements. Think Diane Duane So You Want To Be a Wizard or JKR’s Potter series. I’m also working in the first person for the first time, a challenge in and of itself.
8. Can you share a little of your current work with us? Um, since you ask, sure! This is from the beginning of the piece mentioned above, whose working title is Maven’s Choice:
While I watched traffic more closely than a state trooper short of his ticket quota, the sense of need reaching out to me across the distance was thrumming in my veins. I suffered sharp pangs of death as some of those calling out to me suddenly stopped. Being unable to get where I needed to go and feeling the results tied my stomach in knots.9. What is the hardest part of writing? You mean besides the editing? LOL! Probably being able to take a step back and understand that critiques and comments about your work are about the piece and not about you. You need a thick skin when someone says ‘this fell flat’ on a section you worked very hard to make work!
I had to deal with the loss of human and Folk life later; I could not allow myself to be overwhelmed by sadness now. I do not know why humans have the misperception that elves do not have feelings. All crap, part of a female elf's nature is to help people. I simply had to get to the collapse and help there.
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11. What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers? A good critique partner/group. Someone who will be honest with you about what works as well as what doesn’t and who helps you become a better writer.
12. What does your family think of your writing? Everyone has been very supportive of it; even my late husband thought it was cool and interesting that I could come up with these people, places and things.
13. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. Outside of RWU? Let’s see, I took a wonderful creative writing course as part of an evening program and the great people there helped me realize that fiction was really my genre. Not Andy Rooney type social commentary. Although I do truly wonder why I spend so much effort on getting the grass to grow only to spend so much time cutting it!
14. What is romantic to you? My late husband used to hate Valentines Day. His point was, why is there a special day to show someone you love them, when you should be showing them everyday that you adore them? He was very big on spontaneously buying me flowers or earrings or kitchen gadgets (he knew me well!) to show me he loved me. It was always very sweet to get an unexpected demonstration of his feelings for me. I thought it was very romantic, even the kitchen gadgets.
Labels: Ellie Heller, interview, maven, Romance Writing, RWU, sci-fi, writing
posted by Ellie Heller at 3:57 PM