Research?

Heather Hiestand

Currently Working on: Holly's Pledge, the third story in my Anh Leod series at Ellora's Cave. First there was Claudia, then Cherokee, now Holly!

Mood: Frustrated and nervous about the lack of income entering my bank account. I hate this economy!

As we all know, I haven't been writing much lately. In fact, as I dusted off my files for Holly's Pledge this week, I discovered I hadn't done any writing since January. Some editing, yes, but no writing. I'm not sure I've gone this long without writing since the mid 1990s!

The series I'm working on right now, like all of my Anh Leod titles, has some Greek mythology in it. One book I use for ideas is Classical Mythology by Stephen Harris and Gloria Platzner. I also use the internet a lot. The hero of my current book is the son of King Minos, who I was making up until I realized there was a developed mythology around Minos to the extent of naming all of his myth-y children, so I had to look up enough info to have a starting point.

I also read a lot of fashion magazines because this series is set in Los Angeles. Because I haven't been there for a while, I look up real estate sites and other websites to get places and houses to use in the books.

That's it for now. Baby Andy woke up from his five minute nap and is crying loudly!

A Day in the Life, Take Two

Posted by: Heather Hiestand
Working on: Whatever was requested most convincingly at the Emerald City Writers Conference
Mood: Tenuously cheerful (stolen from Karen Duvall, but I like it!)

Today, October 13th, I'm hung over from conference. I got home at a reasonable hour, but my Sunday focuses on getting my husband ready to go back out on the road for another week, so there isn't much time to decompress. Then, this morning, I get right up and dash to work in Portland. Sometimes my commute is 65 minutes now, one way! Disgusting. It ought to be 30. Life is not particularly glamorous at the moment.

My fantasy is that I'd have time to write, but there hasn't been much of that lately. And frankly, I need to unpack, do the household cleaning and laundry, promote the book that came out on Friday while I was at conference and get through five days of email when I get home.

When I first sold, I thought I'd make enough writing that I wouldn't need to work outside the home very much. All I can do is keep writing the best book I can, but I also need an income, and now work more than double the hours I used to when I first sold. A day in the life isn't spent dreaming up stories so much anymore, and my output has dramatically reduced. But at least I can afford to buy books sometimes! That, my friends, has always been my favorite luxury.

As Erasmus said, "“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”