Thursday, October 16, 2014

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Heather Fraser Brainerd Shares Her Light Bulb Moment, Giveaway




Hello and welcome to our series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. Our "tipster" author today is Heather Fraser Brainerd.  She's giving away the winner's choice of one of her e-books: Deception Al Dente, The Sound of Sirens, Dream Shade, or Shadows of New York.  Please leave a comment to be eligible for the drawing on Sunday at 9 p.m.

Hello Heather. Thanks for participating in this series.       
Can you  share a “light bulb moment” about your writing experience?

My brother Dave and I were each working on our own writing projects a few years back. While discussing our work, we came to the sudden realization that we should write something together. I told Dave about a character I’d created: Josie Cates, an irreverent, funny, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of private investigator. The next day, Dave emailed me the opening of Deception Al Dente. I let my imagination loose on Josie’s world, and Dave did the same. We received our first publishing contract less than a year later. The book grew into a series. Dave, Josie, and I are still going strong.

I never expected to have a writing partner, but it’s what works for us. Sometimes you have to come at your writing from a totally unexpected direction in order to get results.
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Paranormal mystery
Back of the book:
Having left the dull life of workers’ comp insurance behind to strike it out as a private detective, things aren’t going well for Josie P. Cates. Her new career isn't as exciting - or lucrative - as she thought it would be. As her bank account dwindles, her first major client finally walks in the door. Chef Marco, a successful local restaurateur, hires Josie to find out who's skimming money from his business. It doesn't take long for Josie to discover that things at Bistro Italiano aren’t what they seem. Secrets seem to cling to Chef Marco like splattered marinara sauce. With the help of friends both old and new, Josie unravels a case that takes her from the bistro to the world of deadly dark magic. At least it keeps things from being too boring.

Amazon Buy link: 
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About Heather:

Heather Fraser Brainerd is a multi-published author and a renaissance woman. After earning a degree in Anthropology, she embarked on an incongruous career as a workers’ compensation insurance adjuster. She rapidly climbed the claims-handling ladder before surprising
her colleagues by leaving the high-powered world of lumbar strains and carpal tunnel syndrome to run a child care center. Thousands of dirty diapers and gallons of strained peas later, she decided that maybe the insurance industry wasn’t quite as bad as she remembered. Unfortunately, it was. Fortunately, a few years later, she met the most wonderful man in the world. Now a stay-home mom to three amazing boys, she is able, at long last, to focus on her writing. She works in a variety of genres, including paranormal mystery, Young Adult paranormal romance, and Middle Grade fantasy. Heather lives in New York with her family and their crazy pug/terrier.


18 comments:

Susan Bernhardt said...

Heather, what a brilliant idea to write with David. And look what exciting and fun mysteries you have collaborated on.

I came up with the idea of writing a mystery with another author as well. I thought it would have been incredible fun. But he wasn't interested. Oh well...back to the drawing board by myself.

Heath Greenis said...

I think it would be a blast to write with someone. Good for you for 'going for it.
HGreenis
The Natasha Saga

J.Q. Rose said...

Susan, I have no idea how to corroborate with another author on a story especially when separated by miles from each other. It would be fun to brainstorm together though. Heather, how do you and your brother get it put together? That's a whole 'nother blog post!

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Heather G, Did you ever start a story and then go around the circle with each person adding a couple more lines to the story? Quite interesting results!! LOL. Thanks for stopping in today!

Unknown said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone, and many thanks to JQ for hosting me!
As far as how we put it together, yes, that's another post entirely. But it takes lots of phone calls, lots of emailing the manuscript back and forth, and lots of laughter :)

J.Q. Rose said...

Heather B, Glad to host you on this series. I wonder if there is a special connection because your co-author is your brother. You may think more alike? Hmmm, re-thinking this. My two daughters are not at all alike! Complete opposites. LOL

Suzanne de Montigny said...

Very interesting. Can't imagine running a daycare. I admire those ladies so much. So much patience.

Unknown said...

JQ - Dave and I do indeed think a lot alike, but we have different writing strengths. So we make a pretty good team :)
Suzanne - Thanks for stopping by! I did daycare with my mom and my two sisters. It was awesome, but oh so demanding, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I cherished that time, but couldn't do it at this age!

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Suzanne, I agree with you about running a daycare business. Patience is a requirement to do that job. Thanks for stopping by.

Beth Overmyer said...

Hey, Heather! I still think it's cool that you write with your brother. If I wrote with my sister, I think we'd drive each other nuts (she's the grammar police, lol--and she hates abbrv.s)

Best of luck with your books. Deception Al Dente sounds AWESOME! I'll have to add it to my TBR list :)

Unknown said...

Hi Beth! Thanks for your kind words. I hope you get a chance to check out Josie's hijinks :)

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Beth. Definitely add this book to your TBR list. Heather and David make up great stories!

Heath Greenis said...

Heather- have you ever thought of teaming up with your hubby? Personally, I'd love to give that a go.
Love your writing, but you already know that. I've read two, I have two to go.
Heather G -The Natasha Saga

Heath Greenis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heath Greenis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Thanks so much, Heather G! I've written a few posts for my husband's food blog (2eat2drink.com) and he does all the photography for that blog. Also, I wrote two "foodie" articles for a local magazine and he did the photos for that. We love working together. Once he has more time, we'd really like to do a full book.

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Heather, my DH won't even read my writing! Thanks for stopping by.

J.Q. Rose said...

Congratulations to Beth Overmeyer, winner of Heather's ebook! Enjoy.

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