Sunday, February 28, 2016

Interview with Heidi Angell

Dear readers,
today on the blog, I am pleased to introduce Heidi Angell. 
"Heidi Angell is a bibliophile, lexicomaniac and wordsmith! She is the author of The Hunters Series, The Clear Angel Chronicles, and The Hell School Series. She also created Royal Prince Vince, and Creative Exercises to Inspire, 
When she is not reading and writing, she can be found spending quality time with her lovely family camping, hiking, swimming, or watching movies.  Learn more about her and her books at HeidiAngell.com"




Some of you may remember her as one of the amazing hosts for the New Year New Books 2016 Tour, but today I want to introduce her to you as the author of "Hell School: Fresh Meat." This post is a part of the tour for her novel. The tour started on Feb 21st and will end on March 21st, and I am so glad to be a part of this event!:Enjoy the interview!

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Ama et Bemma: Heidi, welcome to my blog! I am so glad that you allowed me to interview you!
Heidi: Hello Ama, Thank you so much for having me today! I am excited to connect with your readers. 
A: I bet that my readers are excited about connecting with you, too! So what's your latest news? 
H: I am excited to announce that Hell School: Fresh Meat is available for pre-order, and will release March 18th. *Squee* This has been a long time coming!

A: I am excited about the new release f your book! That is really exciting. How did you come up with the title?
H: That was a tough one. This is the first in a four book series following my experience in high school with a stalker. I was looking for a way to encapsulate that so it is a play on High School: Freshman year…. Which was my working title for too long! Not quite as catchy, huh?

A: Wow. This is your experience with a stalker? How much of the book is totally realistic to your experience?
H: It is much more realistic than I had originally intended. The pain of that realism is partly why it took me almost ten years to write the series. I did a lot of mashing up friends from school, and cut a lot of boring information out, and resisted the urge to make it scarier by separating each year from the whole of my experience. It was quite a balancing act. 

A: That sounds really intense, and it sounds like you were really invested in the writing process. Do you see writing as a career? 
H: Writing, for me, is more than a career. It is my lifeblood, my passion, my calling, and yes indeed my career. The only calling I find that takes precedence is being a mother. And often those two run in direct conflict of one another! 

A: Being a mother is truly a full time job. I'm glad that you have been able to mesh writing and being a mother together. Besides the conflicts between your two jobs, what was the hardest part of writing your book? Honestly? 
H: Re-living the experiences.  The experience of being stalked in high school shaped the person I have become. It defined me for so very long, and to this day influences choices I make. I had PTSD for years after, and just as I was beginning to adjust, I saw people treating the concept of stalking as a joke, creating memes, and demeaning women who had been stalked as being paranoid. I knew then (almost 10 years ago) that I needed to write this book. But every time I tried, the PTSD would come back, the night terrors, the fear of being alone. It was… intense. My husband knows when I am working on this series, because he will come home and the house will be locked up tight. I can’t sleep with the light off when I am working on this series. I have NO desire to watch anything even remotely scary when I am working on this series. 

A: I'm assuming that this novel has a message then. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? 
H: Stalking is not something to take lightly. It is a horrible invasion. If you know someone who is experiencing a stalker, be there to support them. Help them stay safe. Help them tell those in authority over and over and over, even when it seems like no one is doing anything. Most importantly, do not trivialize what they are going through.
A: So what would you say is the main message of this novel? Is there a message that you want readers to grasp? 
H: There is a message within this first book, as well as a greater message with the series as a whole. The message with this book is that stalking is not cute, romantic, funny, or to be taken lightly. In this book, we are in the early “harmless” stages of stalking. Some of my beta readers were expecting the story to be… creepier. The greater series theme is going to be about how to survive a stalker.
A: Heidi, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and my readers. I believe that you truly do have a message to get across in this novel.

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About the Book:
High school is hard, especially when you're a freshman in a new town, surrounded by people you don't understand and who don't understand you.  Sam was overwhelmed just trying to fit in. Then she is singled out with the first letter.

While some girls envy the “romantics” of this unknown admirer, Sam can tell something isn't right.  Sam wanted to just blend in, but someone's eye is fixated on her.  As the letters and bad poetry continue, so does the nagging in Sam's stomach telling her this is not normal.

When things escalate from strange to creepy, Sam's world becomes a nightmare.  Twisted admiration is stalking her around every corner in the high school from hell….

Hell School: Fresh Meat is available for pre-order on Amazon and Smashwords.

Are you excited about the release of "Hell School: Fresh Meat"? Let me know below!

With all the Peace and Blessings that can be given,

7 comments:

  1. Ama, thanks so much for being a part of the tour! It was a pleasure to do the interview with you and I look forward to connecting with your followers. If anyone has questions, let me know! I will be here all day!

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    1. Heidi, it was great hosting you! Thank you for inviting me to participate :)

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  2. I can't wait to read Hell School. When a writer is so passionate about their work you just know the end product is AMAZING. Hell School is defs on my wishlist.

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    1. Chantol, i'm glad that it's on your list! I can only imagine that it is a good read.

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  3. When a writer is so passionate and invested in their work you just know that the end result is AMAZING. Hell School is defs on my wishlist. Keep on sharing Heidi, the world is waiting to hear.

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