Ask the Author: Jean Heller
Answered Questions (11)
Jean Heller
The vampire lunged at me with someone else's blood already dripping from his fangs.
I fainted.
I fainted.
Jean Heller
Well finally, after so many years, I've dipped my reading toe into James Lee Burke's amazing Dave Robicheaux series, and it's become like an addiction. I can't stop. But I'm going to take a hiatus to read Jo Nesbo's latest Harry Hole mystery, "The Snowman," John Sanford's "Golden Prey," "Shattered," the inside look at what went wrong in the Clinton campaign, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson's new one, "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry."
There probably will be more, but I've also got to finish up the third in my Deuce Mora mystery series, "Burning Rage." Hope to have it ready to publish later this year or early next.
Thanks for asking.
There probably will be more, but I've also got to finish up the third in my Deuce Mora mystery series, "Burning Rage." Hope to have it ready to publish later this year or early next.
Thanks for asking.
Jean Heller
I was an investigative reporter for a variety of excellent newspapers for thirty-odd years (some odder than others), so I have plenty fodder for my books. The two books in the Deuce Mora series which have been published to date are not based on incidents in my career, nor is the third one. But the fourth probably will be. It involves the mysterious deaths of half a dozen Army Ranger trainees while out on a training mission, and it might be the first Deuce Mora mystery that takes her out of Chicago for a part of the book. While names, places, and dates will be changed, this is a story based on a mystery I actually uncovered as a reporter.
Jean
Jean
Jean Heller
That's a great question since the couple at the heart of the Deuce Mora Mysteries is central to the stories. Deuce met Mark Hearst, an Illinois arson investigator, in the first book and they've been together ever since. They are not married and each has a home. Yet they spend a lot of time together. Their professional lives separate them frequently, but that's okay because each enjoys private time alone. If Deuce and Mark remind you of another couple, it's probably Robert Parker's Spenser and his partner, Susan Silverman. The Spenser series has always been one of my guilty pleasures, and while I didn't set out to create a Spenser-Susan relationship for Deuce, I'm not surprised that my subconscious took me in that direction.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Jean Heller
Hi, Dianne. I'll get some guidance for you when people come back to work after the holiday. Meanwhile, I'm really glad you liked "The Storm." I wrote it because a number of readers who really took to the tough but vulnerable, tenacious, committed woman who takes on impossible cases asked me to write more of her backstory. "The Storm" is a suspenseful chunk of it. And it's FREE to anyone who goes to my Web site and signs up for it. They'll get more freebies occasionally without signing up again. Meanwhile, I work on your review question.
Jean Heller
I honestly don't remember where it came from. Some of it from my own experiences, I'm sure. But the core story doesn't resemble anything I experienced. I've often wondered myself where it came from, and I haven't a clue.
Jean Heller
If that question is put to me, the correct question is really, "How do you get inspired to stop writing and go to bed at night?" I don't need inspiration to write. I love doing it and look forward to it every day.
I live for those occasions when my right brain takes over for me, and the words seem to flow onto the computer screen as if from my brain to my fingers without any conscious effort. This "groove" is every writer's best friend. When you feel it happening, don't stop to analyze it. Just let it rip. You'll find it produces some of your best results because nothing is forced.
I live for those occasions when my right brain takes over for me, and the words seem to flow onto the computer screen as if from my brain to my fingers without any conscious effort. This "groove" is every writer's best friend. When you feel it happening, don't stop to analyze it. Just let it rip. You'll find it produces some of your best results because nothing is forced.
Jean Heller
It's called "The Genesis File," or at least that's the working title. It is No. 2 in my Deuce Mora thriller series. I wasn't sure there would be another Deuce book, but the first one is being so well-received that I felt I had to turn it into a series.
So I am.
UPDATE: "The Genesis File" turned into "The Hunting Ground," which was published last fall. It got sensational reviews. Some said it was even better than the first Deuce Mora Mystery, "The Someday File," which had gotten wonderful reviews of its own.
I'm currently working on the third Deuce book, tentatively called, "Burning Rage."
If you want a Deuce "fix" between books, go to my Website: www.JeanHellerBooks.com and request a copy of the short story, "The Storm." Put in your email address, and the story will be downloaded to you immediately. And IT'S FREE!!!
A number of readers asked for more of Deuce's backstory, and there is a big hunk of it in "The Storm" presented in a mysterious, suspenseful way. Somewhere in the questions and answers here is a note from a reader of "The Storm" telling me it was so good she wanted to tell the world about it. So I'm helping.
So I am.
UPDATE: "The Genesis File" turned into "The Hunting Ground," which was published last fall. It got sensational reviews. Some said it was even better than the first Deuce Mora Mystery, "The Someday File," which had gotten wonderful reviews of its own.
I'm currently working on the third Deuce book, tentatively called, "Burning Rage."
If you want a Deuce "fix" between books, go to my Website: www.JeanHellerBooks.com and request a copy of the short story, "The Storm." Put in your email address, and the story will be downloaded to you immediately. And IT'S FREE!!!
A number of readers asked for more of Deuce's backstory, and there is a big hunk of it in "The Storm" presented in a mysterious, suspenseful way. Somewhere in the questions and answers here is a note from a reader of "The Storm" telling me it was so good she wanted to tell the world about it. So I'm helping.
Jean Heller
Nobody is born knowing how to write and to write well. It's something you have to try to do and to nurture and improve. The only way to write well and successfully is to keep writing. And read a lot. A whole lot. See how other writers tell stories in the same genre you've chosen for yourself. Learn from their techniques.
You don't have to start with a novel. A paragraph, a short story, whatever. Just so you KEEP WRITING.
Take college-level courses in creative writing, absorb all you can, and when the class is over, keep what works for you and toss the rest. You'll keep a lot, but not everything. Don't force yourself into somebody else's mold. Everyone writes differently. Style and voice are uniquely yours. Don't try to bend your writing to match a favorite author or a writing coach. Be yourself, and just let loose.
And listen to your right brain. I have this little critter, I think maybe it's a field mouse or a titmouse, or something. And when my writing isn't working, it tells me so. At first I just ignored it and plunged ahead, only to discover down the road that the little voice coming from my shoulder was right, and I wasted a lot of time by not listening to it. When I realized that, I had to go back, throw away a lot of material and try again. Don't be afraid to do that. It's part of the process.
And finally, learn grammar and spelling. Nobody will read anything full of careless errors. Don't depend on grammar and spell checkers on your computer. Everyone knows God made them just to embarrass you.
You don't have to start with a novel. A paragraph, a short story, whatever. Just so you KEEP WRITING.
Take college-level courses in creative writing, absorb all you can, and when the class is over, keep what works for you and toss the rest. You'll keep a lot, but not everything. Don't force yourself into somebody else's mold. Everyone writes differently. Style and voice are uniquely yours. Don't try to bend your writing to match a favorite author or a writing coach. Be yourself, and just let loose.
And listen to your right brain. I have this little critter, I think maybe it's a field mouse or a titmouse, or something. And when my writing isn't working, it tells me so. At first I just ignored it and plunged ahead, only to discover down the road that the little voice coming from my shoulder was right, and I wasted a lot of time by not listening to it. When I realized that, I had to go back, throw away a lot of material and try again. Don't be afraid to do that. It's part of the process.
And finally, learn grammar and spelling. Nobody will read anything full of careless errors. Don't depend on grammar and spell checkers on your computer. Everyone knows God made them just to embarrass you.
Jean Heller
Working at my own pace on my own projects and the satisfaction I get from a job well done, or at least a job I think I've done well. It is an "in" to talk to readers about what I do and what they like.
And if I want to take a Wednesday off, I don't have to ask anyone's permission. But I do understand that I'll then have to work on Sunday.
And if I want to take a Wednesday off, I don't have to ask anyone's permission. But I do understand that I'll then have to work on Sunday.
Jean Heller
I don't have this problem often. But when I do I either go for a long walk along Lake Michigan or a long drive out in the country where I can find a quiet place to stop, overlooking a lake or a stream, and let my mind run free.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or a solution to a plotting problem. When that happens, I get out of bed and either make copious notes to work on in the morning or write the scene that came to me.
And sometimes, I simply get a Eureka Moment, when my right brain throws an idea at me that had never occurred to me before, and we're off.
When my this none of this works, I either steal something from another writer or jump off a bridge. Lucky for me I've never had to go this far.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or a solution to a plotting problem. When that happens, I get out of bed and either make copious notes to work on in the morning or write the scene that came to me.
And sometimes, I simply get a Eureka Moment, when my right brain throws an idea at me that had never occurred to me before, and we're off.
When my this none of this works, I either steal something from another writer or jump off a bridge. Lucky for me I've never had to go this far.
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