Interview with author Heather Harlow

Welcome, Readers. Happy Thanksgiving if you're in the US!

Today's special guest is Heather Harlow who is chatting about her novel, The Argon Factor.

Bio: Heather Harlow has wanted to be an author since adolescence. The Argon Factor is her first book in a series about aliens from the planet Argon.

She’s always been a fan of superheroes: Batman and Robin, Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Six Million Dollar Man, and the Bionic Woman. 

She likes sci-fi movies and series, like Star Trek and Battle Star Galactica. More recently, she’s been enjoying the Avenger movies. In addition to her sci-fi interests, she’s a romantic. Therefore, it was natural for her to write about science fiction and combine it with a human interest story that has sex and romance in it.

Heather graduated from University of Memphis (BBA) and Tennessee Technological University (MBA).  She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her dogs, Mickey (13), a Golden Retriever, Jack (5 mos), a black lab/shepherd mix, and two cats, Smokey and Cali.

She loves wine, good music, great food, the beach, swimming, football (college and NFL), World Cup Soccer, and NHL Playoffs.

Welcome, Heather. Please tell us about your current release.

The Argon Factor is my first book in a series called, The Argonian Series. The first book introduces you to the aliens from planet Argon and Grogan of the Baldracon Universe, which was destroyed when one of their suns exploded into a super nova and eventually became a black hole. The story takes place 165 years into the future, where men and women seldom get married and most all parents are single parents. 

Susan is an independent young woman of the future planning her family and starting a new job in the recovering world economy and cities when her new job propels her into danger due a code breach. She finds herself in life threatening danger and due to a "chance" encounter in a deli, she find herself having to rely on somebody else. Christoph is not only the CEO of the firm where Susan works, but he's also the Argon Alien Commander on Earth. He must protect Susan from Grogans, while protecting his secrets. He must decide whether or not to pursue Susan as a mate. Susan has no idea what is about to happen and the feelings he's going to stir. Feelings, every woman in modern society has learned to suppress and ignore. All the while she has to allow a man to protect her. It completely goes against all she's been taught. But her instincts tell a different story.

What inspired you to write this book?

My friend, Beth, signed us both up for a class about writing your bestseller and another class about self-publishing. I was so ready to start writing books and from these classes, it's been only 8 months, and I've published my first book. The inspiration for this story and series of books hit me back in about 2003, I'd guess. I was living on St. John, I had moved there to be a writer and write books. While that never happened while on St. John, I did come up with this story and ideas for many more. They all just kept hitting me so fast, it would really overwhelm me and I would never get past the idea or outline.

An excerpt from The Argon Factor can be found on my website: www.TheRealHeatherHarlow.com

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next story is a continuation of your introduction into the aliens that have come to take Earth as their planet, the Grogans. While the Argons are just an advanced species of human, they only want to co-exist and integrate with humans. You'll learn about the Grogans and how their extremes are truly extremes of the worst nature. Susan is still in danger and must rely on Christoph while dealing with losing her independence and to an ALIEN no less! Her struggle is real because her instincts tell her to trust him and love him and be open the possibilities. All the while, due to the Grogan threat, the Argons must decide how to save Earth and the humans without revealing themselves and alerting the humans to the very real danger.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think I've always considered myself a writer. When I was young eleven years old, I wanted to write books. My first true pursuit to writing a book and becoming an author came in 2001 when I moved to the Virgin Islands to do just that. I started considering myself an author in May of this year, 2015, when I wrote my first book. LOL... that doesn't mean I finished with all the edits and revisions in May! That takes some time.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I plan to one day write full-time. But unfortunately, I have to pay my bills. I work as an IT program manager for a major telecomm. I telecommute, but I work from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm every day. When I take my 20 min breaks, I walk my dogs down the street and back (no matter the weather). Otherwise, I sit in my library/office in front of a computer screen where I instant message, email, and talk on conference calls all day long. I write my books after dinner and on the weekends. During my lunch breaks, I deal with my author marketing and the business side of being an author ---- sometimes that flows into the early evenings too. Although, during the day if an idea hits me for a blog, it's easy to take a 15 min break and type it out of my head. I go back later to edit, but the key is just getting it out.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I do not know if it is a quirk or not, but I write my best after having really great sex. One absolutely, terrific lovemaking session can fuel and start me writing for days.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I seven, I was taking ice skating lessons and I wanted to win an Olympic gold medal like Dorothy Hamil, but we moved to a small country town when I was 10 and there was no ice rink for miles.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I like to write funny blogs. Well, at least I hope they're funny. I have a series called, "Are You Kidding me?" on my website. These are real life experiences that are to leave you shaking your head, smiling, and saying to yourself, 'are you kidding me?'' Here are some current titles: 'Rick Springfield's Ass,’ 'Spanish Hangover Fireworks,’ 'Toilet Paper,’ 'My Legs are Broken' (part 1 of plane crash).

Thank you for being here today, Heather!