Pump Up Chats with Heather Haven

Heather Haven image

Heather is a story teller by nature and loves the written word.  In her career, she’s written short stories, novels, comedy acts, plays, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and even ghost-wrote a book. 

One of her first jobs as a writer was given to her by her then agent. It was that of writing a love story for a book published by Bantam called Moments of Love. She had a deadline of one week and then promptly came down with the flu. She wrote “The Sands of Time” with a temperature of 102 and delivered some pretty hot stuff because of it. Later on, she wrote short comedy skits for nightclub acts and ad copy for such places as No Soap Radio, where her love for comedy blossomed. Many of her short stories have been seen in various publications, as well as 2 one-act plays produced in Manhattan, one at the well-known, Playwrights Horizons.

Her novel, Murder is a Family Business, the first in the Alvarez Murder Mystery series, has been epublished by MuseItUp Publishing in January, 2011. The second in the series, A Wedding To Die For, debuts April 22, 2011. She is currently writing the 3rd of the series, and says they are a joy to write. Heather gets to be all the characters, including the cat!   

You can visit Heather online at www.heatherhavenstories.com and her blog at http://heatherhavensays.blogspot.com/.

Murder is a Family Business tour banner

On Murder is a Family Business

Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

I wanted to write a humorous mystery series about a protagonist who had a few things going for her. Not perfect, but striving. I didn’t want to have yet another protagonist who learned nothing, who was ostracized from those she loved, who owned one crummy black skirt and life was one, long penance. My protagonist, Lee Alvarez, is a lover of life and learns from her mistakes. She also has strong familial support, even though they are often one pain in her jazzercised butt. 

Then I felt my series had to include two important elements:  the recently immigrated, which is one of America’s natural resources, and the family unit.  Hence, the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series, a family of detectives, was born. The first book — which took me so long to write, planets have been formed and deteriorated in that time — I knew had to be called Murder is a Family Business to set the tone for the series. However, the Alvarez family is a little off-center. They aren’t the ‘classic’ family i.e., father, mother, sister, brother, and large dog, all driving around in a shiny SUV eating Snickerdoos. Of course, these days a family like that is harder to find than a dinosaur with feathers. Oh, wait a minute. Archaeologists are digging those up all the time from unsuspecting peoples’ backyards. That means the Ozzie and Harriet family does still exist somewhere. Helloooooo out there! 

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

The opening chapter was the toughest, and always is for me. How do you introduce the protagonist without hitting the reader over the head with the character? How do you give enough back-story to let the reader know what’s going on without weighing the story down too much? In the case of a mystery, you usually have to end the chapter with a murder. While not completely obligatory, it is much to be desired. Within the first chapter you are not only hooking your reader, but you are making a contract with them for what kind of read to expect. It’s a tall order and every sentence, every word, has a reason to be there. If you can’t justify its purpose, throw it out.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

Yes! The sense of belonging, of being part of a family unit, is everything. And it doesn’t have to be within a ‘blood’ family, either. At one time or another, EVERYONE feels odd-man out, unaccepted, unloved, or on the outside looking in, but when you have family there for you no matter what, you can pull through anything. People that make a commitment to live together, to love one another, and to share their lives on a daily basis, are a family.

On Writing

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit? Murder is a Family Business cover

Since forever. I can remember doodling around with songs I’d hear on the radio as a kid, writing lyrics to music that didn’t have any, and singing them along with the song when I heard it again. Or I would see a person on the street and mentally create a whole back-story for them, come home and write it down. My mother still has one or two of those stories hanging around. She read me one just the other day. Pretty terrible but I think I was around eleven at the time. What do you want from a kid? Anyway, I’ve been a writer all my life.

Q: What’s the most frustrating thing about becoming a published author and what’s the most rewarding?

Getting people to know about my book without hitting them over the head with it and shouting, “Buy my book!!” I mean, how tacky is that? So I don’t do it. Not that I can’t be tacky, but it’s more along the lines of wearing white after Labor Day or reading People Magazine while waiting in the grocery line. Shhhh about that one or I’ll never get into Safeway again.  The most rewarding? Hearing someone say how much they laughed and enjoyed the world I created and took them to; how much they can’t wait for the next book of the series to come out. I love that people are enjoying my little family, the humor, and the love. It’s a real high.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Write, write, write. It’s very basic. You can’t be a writer if you don’t write. So don’t talk about it, don’t moan about it, don’t apologize for it, just do it. Sit down and write. It doesn’t matter if it’s for fifteen minutes, 2 hours, or all day. The point is you’re writing, even if you only get out one good sentence. It keeps the juices flowing, keeps you thinking, on your toes. Find the best time of day for you and make yourself write. Approach it as a job. Whether you feel like it or not, you have to go and do it. Soon it will become habit. That’s what you want. Soon you’ll see stealing fifteen minutes here, twenty minutes there, an hour or two on a good day, you’ll get something done. So WRITE, my darlings. 

On Family and Home:

Q:  Would you like to tell us about your home life?  Where you live?  Family?  Pets?

Let’s see. I live in the foothills of San Jose, which I love. I had no idea the weather would be so glorious there, although the cellphone service sucks. All those picturesque hills, so lovely and so inaccessible to the modern world. The double-edged sword of life strikes again. I live with my husband, Norman, a musician and talented singer, and a helluva great guy. We have two cats, Elphaba, Queen of da Nile (Ellie) and Yul Brynner, King of Siam (Yulie). I am currently visiting with my mother, who lives in Manhattan, and won’t move out to California for love or money. So I use a lot of frequent flyer miles going coast to coast.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home? 

My little office, which is in a corner of the kitchen. I love it. Usually, I’m draped with one of the cats, too. I’ve learned to type with one hand. The other is usually wrapped around a cat.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

We travel. We like to go to local places, like San Francisco or the Wine Country. When we can, we head out to Hawaii, Las Vegas, etc. But I ‘get away from it all’ every day for one hour, when I watch the soap, All My Children. Shhhh. Another thing to keep mum about.

On Childhood:

Q: Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?

Yes.

Q: Can you remember your favorite book?

Two of them: Uncle Remus Stories and Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock. Weird kid, right?

Q: Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?

All the time. I’ve always written things down, created stories in my mind, even if I didn’t know what it was I was doing.

On Book Promotion:

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

Ginger Simpson’s Dishin’ It Out did a blog on me even before my book came out. So did Lin Holmes on her website. I was grateful to both of them for giving me a plug like that. They are both sweeties and very generous of nature.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

I try to keep up on what’s out there, how beneficial they are, etc. Somewhere in all of this plugging, you have to keep writing, too. Promoting takes a lot of time and effort.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

Well, fer cryin’ out loud, a blog tour? Who would have thought? Even five years ago, maybe as few as two, such a thing would have been unheard of. Now it’s all the rage.

On Other Fun Stuff:

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

Seriously? WORLD PEACE.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

I would be home in San Jose. Right now I’m in Manhattan — noisy, busy, cramped, dirty, fabulous, one-of-a-kind Manhattan — visiting Mom. I lived in Manhattan way back in the Punic Wars (when I was young) and it was very good to me. I worked backstage on Broadway for 10-years, met and married my husband here, but still, baby, you can keep it. I like a quieter, easier life.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer.  Who would you thank?

Okay, you’ve completely thrown me. I have a very vivid imagination but not that vivid. I would probably faint dead away, and not be able to thank anyone, other than the paramedics who rushed me to the hospital.


6 Responses to “Pump Up Chats with Heather Haven”

  1. Well, this is fun. And I sure do get around, right from my little office in San Jose! Ah! The wonderful world of the web.

  2. C.K. Volnek says:

    Great interview Heather. I agree with you that the first chapter is the hardest to write. That set the feel for me and gets the blood rushing to finish the book. Thanks for sharing.
    Charlie
    C.K. Volnek

  3. Heather, I can’t picture you writing anything but a ‘humorous’ mystery series. You have such a fun sense of humor! Sounds like the weather helps. I understand about the cats – I have three who take turns demanding lap time. All the best with your writing.

  4. Good interview and some good opinions/values here, Heather. Sounds like you enjoy your writing, and bottom line — it’s what counts.

    Chris H.

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