Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Interview with Heidi McLaughlin

Wow! I get the immense privilege to interview Heidi McLaughlin. She is paving the way of New Adult. I just recently finished her book "Forever My Girl" and fell in love with it. It was definitely a great story of growth, change and forever love. 

 Hello Heidi! Thank you so much for taking the time to interview with me today! I am a strong believer that many female readers often love books because they can become emotionally connected with the characters and the situations. Often times, it’s the relationships that do this. Since my blog is very relationship based, I wanted to pick a few author brains (and so thankful you have joined me) regarding the relationships in their book(s). After all- authors create relationships every day!

Thank you for having me, Kristi!

1.      I have just recently finished the book Forever My Girl. It was very close to home on many areas. Would you mind giving a brief summary of it for the readers?

Forever My Girl is a boy who shared a dream with his girl, until he didn’t. Ten years passes and he comes home to face the consequences of his decisions at the age of 18.


2.      What inspired your main characters and their relationships (especially Liam and Josie)?

Love mostly. I had these two characters and I knew the end result. I just had to make everything else fall into place. I asked myself – if I was to go back to 18, what would I want ten years later. Would I still be with the guy I dated in high school? Would you?

3.      When it comes to the relationship building, how did you get in touch with the mind of a man? Your book felt so real to me in areas with how Liam got angry or how he thought of women.

My best friend is a musician so a lot of actions and thoughts are straight from a source. He is often disgusted with how women act at shows. The stories are plenty. I had a reviewer tell me that I was disgracing women with the way Liam was acting – the only problem with that is that those are firsthand accounts of actions I’ve witnessed in green rooms.

I’d give my friend a scenario and he’d give me a reaction and I’d go from there.

4.      Did you ever become emotionally connected to your own writing as your wrote? Did you ever have to stop yourself in scenes because you were TOO emotionally invested?

Every time I write something about Mason. I lost my brother in 2011, so writing about someone passing, especially unexpectedly, where you only have moments to say goodbye is very hard. Many times I had to walk away or come back and finish a flashback or a scene where he’s involved.  Mason is a character I love and hate that the readers don’t know him. I’m hoping that someday I can change that because he’s a very honorable man.


5.      As a creator of relationships, how did you come to understand body language and thoughts well enough to feel confident in the way you wrote your characters? For example, many people go to a park and just watch people for a couple hours.

I people watch all the time. I watch how they interact. Where do they put their hands? What facial expressions are they using? I stare a lot (creepy I know) at my daughter and her boyfriend. He fidgets all the time, especially when he’s on the spot, but the way he looks at her, shows how much he cares about her.

I also act it out. I’ll stand in the doorway and position myself the way I think the character should be and write it down until it’s right.

6.      I noticed you have a book two coming in the Beaumont series. Would you like to share a little about it? I know I’m looking forward to it.

The second book centers on Harrison and Katelyn. I know a few readers are concerned that it’s too soon for Katelyn, but it’s a year out and she’s only 28, far too young to give up on love. The readers will learn about Harrison’s past and they’ll learn a lot about Mason.

The third book… I’ll just say you’ve met the characters in Forever My Girl and no it’s not Liam and Josie. J



Thanks again Heidi! I really appreciate your time!
Kristi


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