Welcome, Heather Davis!

I am kicking off our Buzz Girl Interview Week by interviewing Heather Davis!

I had “heard” about her long before I had the pleasure of meeting her. She was a maverick in the world of young adult writing, finaling not once, but three times in Romance Writers of America’s prestigious contest for unpublished books, the Golden Heart, and taking the trophy home for Do You Really Want to Haunt Me?

So when the Buzz Girls asked me to join them about a year and a half ago, I was delighted on a number of levels, including the chance to get to know her.


(Heather and I are seen here, "feeding" Marley Gibson at RWA National, 2007.)

Tina: Hi, Heather. We Buzz Girls are super-excited about the release of your first book, Never Cry Werewolf, by HarperCollins in April of 2009. Can you tell us a little about it?

Heather: With all due respect to the great Jane Austen, I like to describe it as Pride and Prejudice at a brat camp – and Mr. Darcy is a werewolf.

Tina: Sounds terrific! Teen werewolf--how did that idea come to you?

Heather: I had just completed a ghost communicator book and the very next month, the Ghost Whisperer series came on TV. I felt a little behind the wave. I’ve always loved the duality of werewolves and heck, they are alive rather than the undead which is so much hotter in my opinion. So I went for it and wrote the furry hero of my teenage dreams.

Tina: I know you are with super-hottie agent, Stephen Barbara (and I mean that as far as sales and looks.) How did you and Stephen meet, and how long have you been working together?

Heather: I had banged on quite a few doors with various projects (about eight manuscripts and six years in the submission trenches), but it was love at first query with Stephen. He was out there in cyberspace seeking YA and I shot him an email on a Friday – I sent him my book on Monday, and on Wednesday we decided it was a match made in literary Heaven. Let me tell you, it NEVER happens like that. But something in the tone of his emails told me this is different… this is the ONE. I love him to pieces. He’s wonderful and we have so much fun together.


(Shown here: Dona Sarkar, Stephen Barbara, Heather Davis at RWA National in Dallas, 2007)

Tina: You and Buzz Girl/Kimani author Dona Sarkar are wonderful friends and critique partners. Where were you when you found out she’d made her first sale?

Heather: First let me say, Dona is amazing. She’s such a wonderful friend. I was at my day job office when I had the email she’d sold. I couldn’t wait to call her to celebrate. I was and am so proud of her.

Tina: I am, too! On a lighter note, you know I have a year-old kitty named after the bad boy in my first published book. Tell us about your cat and how he got his name.

Heather: Harper is a princess kitty rescued from the local pound. I think she is Siamese and maybe a little Himalayan. She is fluffy perfection, whatever the combo. I named her after the author Harper Lee. She is very jealous of my keyboard and will sit on my lap while I work, trying to distract me.

Tina: She's a keeper! Now here’s some fast and hopefully fun questions. You can have only one type of dessert for the rest of your life. What is it?

Heather: I pick chocolate anything. Or maybe pancakes with strawberries if they count as dessert.

Tina: They do, in my book. Black leather or brown suede?

Heather: Distressed black leather, please.

Tina: Car windows open or a/c on?

Heather: I pick windows open for the fresh air!! I hate a stuffy anything.

Tina: I’m with you! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to hang with us! And again, can't wait for the release of Never Cry Werewolf.

Tina
Tina Ferraro
How to Hook a Hottie
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
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