PRETTY DARK NOTHING with YA Author Heather L. Reid

TOUR SCHEDULE

Eerie.

Dark.

Pretty.

What more could a reader want in a YA read? 

PRETTY DARK NOTHING by Heather L. Reid

It’s time to choose: Love or lies, faith or fear, darkness or destiny.

Seventeen-year-old Quinn hasn’t slept a full night in twenty-three days. She’s terrified of the demons that stalk her dreams, pull her into a deep dark nothingness and whisper hauntingly of her death. Exhausted, Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, and Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. If Quinn can learn to trust her heart, and Aaron can discover the secret locked away in his fragile memory, their combined power could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.

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I couldn't help myself. I had to set up this post a little differently than I normally do to give this cover the justice it deserves. SIMPLY GORGEOUS!

Meet Author Heather L. Reid: Heather is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and dreaming up new novels to write. Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads

Hi Heather! It's great to have you stop by. Tell us about what inspired you to become a writer.
My love of words started like most writers I know. It started with a story. In this case, the stories came from the imagination of my great-aunt, Delia. She weaved magical tales about mystical rabbits and mischievous squirrels to send me to sleep. Sometimes she would tell me tall tales from her childhood, how she would beat up the boys when they picked on my grandmother, how the nuns would slap their knuckles with wooden rulers if they misbehaved. She wasn't a writer, she never wrote any of her stories on paper, and she read to me too, Ramona Quimby was one of my favorites, but I loved her stories best.

When not in my great-aunt’s care, my parents would read me too. Our house was full of leather bound classics, dusty paperbacks, stories of mythology, philosophy, history, anything you would want to know. Reading was encouraged and celebrated and some of my favorite presents came from my mother. Books like Where The Wild Things Are, Strega Nona, The Giver, Where The Sidewalk Ends, The Island of Blue Dolphins, A Wrinkle In Time, No Flying In The House, The Cat Ate My Gym Suit, Superfudge, Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Secret Garden, A Dog Called Kitty, The Witches, all changed me, inspired me, scared me, made me cry, and awakened my imagination. I’m so grateful that my mother recognized my special bond with the written word at an early age.

Oh gosh! Rats of NIMH, Superfudge, The Secret Garden...I think we would have gotten along great as kids. Those are some of my favorites!

What do you feel is the most important successful writing?
While all of these thing work to help create success, the two most important things to me are perseverance and honing the craft.

By honing the craft, I mean writing, writing, and more writing. The best way to learn is by doing. No amount of classes, workshops, beta readers, critique partners, or craft books can ‘teach’ you how to write. They are valuable tools, and no doubt helpful, but in the end the only way to learn to write is by writing. Finding your voice means putting words on the page, experimenting with different techniques, finding your own process. No two writers are the same. Writing is personal and without words on the page, you have nothing.

As for perseverance, if you’re passionate, you have to keep trying, keep honing your craft, keep reading, and keep going. The journey to success isn’t easy. It could take years, it could take numerous books even after reaching publication, each path is different and you have to define success for yourself. Don’t let anyone define it for you. Let the love of storytelling guide you, set your own goals and go for them, and if you fall down, get up and try again.

If you could be any fictional character, who would it be and why?
Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Have you seen the library the Beast gives her?

Good point!

Now, let's chat about how you named your characters for PRETTY DARK NOTHING. 
I wanted Quinn to have a quirky, kind of modern name so I looked through a baby name book and did some name searches until I found one that fit. Aaron just came to me along with his voice in a dream. He was always called Aaron and the name fit. His last name, Collier, came from a set of leather-bound children’s books that were up on my shelf at the time. Collier was the publisher. Teresa was named after my best friend in college, even her nickname, Reese, was stolen from her. Thanks, Reese! While my character shares the same name as my friend, the Reese in my book is not really like my real life friend.

Lastly, describe your book in 140 characters or less.
Demons exploit & manipulate Quinn's inner fears. To save herself she must chose love or lies, faith or fear, darkness or destiny.

Ooh, intriguing description! Thank you for sharing yourself and your book with us, today. Valuable info for writers and readers. All the best from the Alleyway!

GIVEAWAY!

Grand Prize winner will receive a signed copy of PRETTY DARK NOTHING, a Pretty Dark Nothing necklace, nail polish, and bookmarks (US only). One winner will receive PRETTY DARK NOTHING shipped through Book Depository (International).

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So tell me. If you could enter someone else's dream would you?