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Inside the Actors Studio with VANISHED Author Elizabeth Heiter
HAPPY (almost) NEW YEAR! As 2014 draws to a close, I’m thrilled to once again be ending the year with a new release by one of my favorite authors and people, Elizabeth Heiter. I’ve been a fan of Elizabeth’s work since I got to read an early draft of HUNTED years ago, and let me tell you, I’ve been waiting for today–the release day for VANISHED, the sequel to HUNTED, for a very, very long time!
As I often like to do for second visits to Kiss and Thrill, I’ve put Elizabeth in the Inside the Actors Studio hot seat. Read on to find out what her favorite curse word is and what noise she hates, but before she takes the questionnaire, check out the blurb for VANISHED:
Sometimes, the past can haunt you…
Eighteen years ago, FBI profiler Evelyn Baine’s best friend, Cassie Byers, disappeared, the third in a series of unsolved abductions. Only a macabre nursery rhyme was left at the scene, a nursery rhyme that claimed Evelyn was also an intended victim. Now, after all these years of silence, another girl has gone missing in South Carolina, and the Nursery Rhyme Killer is taking credit. But is Cassie’s abductor really back, or is there a copycat at work?
Sometimes, the past is best forgotten…
Evelyn has waited eighteen years for a chance to investigate, but when she returns to Rose Bay, she finds a dark side to the seemingly idyllic town. As the place erupts in violence and the kidnapper strikes again, Evelyn knows this is her last chance. If she doesn’t figure out what happened to Cassie eighteen years ago, it may be Evelyn’s turn to vanish without a trace.
And now, for the questionnaire…
What is your favorite word? Rollkragenpullover – German for turtleneck pullover. I just like how it sounds when you say it.
What is your least favorite word? Can’t – I don’t believe in “can’t.”
What turns you on? Kindness. I’m a total sucker for a nice guy. Also, the trifecta: nice eyes, a good smile, and strong biceps.
What turns you off? Bullying. Meanness. Arrogance. The wrong kind of trifecta.
What sound or noise do you love? The sound of ocean waves crashing into the shoreline. That sound is just good for the soul!
What sound or noise do you hate? Traffic, and bees buzzing too close (I’m allergic, so that sound makes me do a not-so-flattering dance!)
What is your favorite curse word? Well, I’ve been told that all curse words sound “wrong” coming out of my mouth, but I have a tendency to use variations on swear words, like “frack” or “shite.”
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? FBI Special Agent. I spend a lot of time researching the job and my fascination must show, because they keep telling me I’d be good at it and I should apply!
What profession would you not like to do? Cleaner at a by-the-hour hotel. Hospital waste management. Or really anything that involves cleaning something that you’ll still see under black lights years later anyway.
If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? I’m happy you only used all that serial killer research for writing fiction! Otherwise, you’d be headed in the other direction!
You can read Elizabeth’s first K&T interview here.
All of us here at Kiss and Thrill want to thank all the amazing authors who have been guests in 2014 and thank our readers for another great year! Best wishes to all authors and readers for a fabulous 2015!
Hunted Winner!
Happy New Year from all of us at Kiss and Thrill!
I want to thank Elizabeth Heiter for joining us on the 31st – a great end to a great year!
The winner of HUNTED is…
…Jan Jackson!!
Jan, to claim your prize, please contact us within 10 days and let us know your preferred ebook format.
Please join us next week at Kiss and Thrill when Gwen hosts Melissa Cutler.
Rachel Puts Debut Author Elizabeth Heiter in the Crosshairs
I’m so excited today to introduce my friend Elizabeth Heiter to our Kiss and Thrill readers. Elizabeth and I met in 2008 when we were both finalists in Romance Writers of America®’s Golden Heart® contest. She was an early reader of CONCRETE EVIDENCE and I in turn was extremely lucky and got to read HUNTED, which debuts today.
I absolutely loved HUNTED and Elizabeth’s heroine, FBI profiler Evelyn Baine. This book is intense, scary, and fascinating. If you are looking for a book that will keep you up late and take your breath away with the best fight scenes I’ve ever read, this book is for you!
Regular readers of this blog may have noticed I don’t give books star ratings, because I find stars just don’t capture exactly how I feel about a book. So, as is my wont, I needed to come up with a new rating for HUNTED. Only one symbol fully captures the intensity of this book.
HUNTED gets five crosshairs:
So now it is my great pleasure to welcome Elizabeth to Kiss and Thrill!
RG: What published author (any genre) turns you into a total fangirl? Is there a particular book or is this based on their entire body of work?
EH: I’m going to have to say Suzanne Brockmann. I was perusing the romantic suspense section at the bookstore one day many years back and came across Over the Edge. Well, as soon as I finished it, I went out and bought everything else I could find by her (I even found used copies of all her TDD books, which weren’t in reprint at the time), and I’ve read everything since then. In 2010, I entered a haiku contest she was running and I won! I got the chance to sit down and talk to her at a conference as part of my prize, and it was a fantastic experience. Not only is she an amazing writer and a very nice person, I love how she uses her success to bring awareness to issues that matter to her.
RG: I think several of our Kiss and Thrill contributors are turning green with envy right now. 🙂 I Have you ever written fan fiction, and if so, what work was it based on? If you haven’t, what would you be tempted to write fan fiction about?
EH: Yes! The very first manuscript I ever finished was written with critique partner Robbie Terman (whom I’ve known since second grade). In early high school, we wrote a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys novel – all in pen, in a big notebook. During our senior year of high school, we went back and took that basic plotline we’d created and completely rewrote it into our own story, separate from the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys world. That manuscript got us “Gifted and Talented” credit in high school and showed me that I could finish a book. There’s still a special place in my heart for Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys!
RG: I love that story! Robbie is the best–you are so lucky you grew up together! And it’s funny – another 2008 GH finalist, Diana Miller, also named Nancy Drew in her fan fiction answer (you can read that post here). Next question, Facebook or Twitter?
EH: Both, and neither. I was a latecomer to social media, and I still find some aspects of it really bizarre (like when I’m at a restaurant and at the table next to me, everyone has their phones out and are tweeting instead of talking to each other!). In other ways, it’s quite fun. I like Facebook because there’s no limit on words (and as a novelist who likes to write 100,000 word books, that’s handy!) and I enjoy Twitter because it’s quick and I really enjoy the randomness of it.
RG: What is the strangest weapon you’ve used to kill off a character, either on or off-scene?
EH: Hmmmm…my villains actually tend to use pretty straightforward methods for murder, most of the time. It’s the body disposal where they get weird – for example, in more than one manuscript, I have used alligators (either to destroy evidence or as a way for a villain to try to kill off my heroine). I’ve been intrigued by this idea ever since I went kayaking in the marshes in Georgia and had to sign a piece of paper that essentially read “this company is not liable if, while kayaking, an alligator eats you.” I think only a suspense writer would be amused by that, but I still took that kayak trip (and I’m alive to talk about it!).
RG: I have been tubing and canoeing down rivers in Florida and I can confirm having alligator sightings every time. Never a dull moment on the river. 🙂 Okay, now for the best part, tell us about your debut release.
EH: My debut psychological suspense, HUNTED, is about an FBI profiler who learns just how deadly it can be to get inside the head of a killer.
In HUNTED, FBI profiler Evelyn Baine gets what looks like a typical serial killer case to profile. Except when she arrives at the crime scene, the behavioral evidence seems contradictory. But it does tell her the killer has struck before, and unless they stop him, he’ll strike again. As she digs deeper into the case, the serial killer she’s tracking begins to track her too. This time, it may be Evelyn’s turn to disappear…
New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann said, “This is a really excellent thriller – fast-paced and exciting, with a memorable cast of characters. Well done!”
RG: Okay, now I think my fellow K&T contributors are exploding with envy over the Brockmann quote! Thank you so much for sharing your debut release day with us, Elizabeth! With 2013 ending with your debut release, I know 2014 is going to be an exciting year for you.
Today Elizabeth is giving away a copy of HUNTED in ebook to one lucky commenter. To enter the drawing, tell us one thing you are looking forward to in 2014.
HUNTED
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