Meet L.J. Harris
L.J. Harris is the author of Heart of Glass and other story listed below.
To get to know L. J. Harris a little better, the author agreed to an interview. Look for the interview below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.
✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍
L. J. HARRIS is a mother of teenage twin boys who she loves with all her heart. Her family is her life, her soul, and the very reason she gets out of bed every day. Coming a close second to her family is her writing.
She only just discovered a passion for writing in the past five or so years. She’d always written little poems in birthday cards for family members, but that was as far as her writing aspirations went…until she decided to write poems and give them to family members as homemade gifts.
It was then a spark was lit, and ever since, she hasn’t been unable to switch off the urge to write.
After a close family member fell ill, she began questioning what she wanted and searching for answers. Unable to sleep one night, she sat up and typed out her feelings on the laptop. Her husband read what she’d written and encouraged her to write more. It was then she knew she wanted to share her thoughts with others. She began with writing what she knew–her life story, but couldn’t get into it. Instead, she decided to write about something not based on fact, but fiction, and wrote a dream sequence which she showed to her family. They encouraged her to expand on it, and she hasn’t stopped since.
L.J. Harris discovered that as much as enduring pain, loss, betrayal, or any other negative thing in our lives can be devastating, if she hadn’t experienced them for herself, she not only wouldn’t have found some lifelong friends, she doubts she would have been able to write the feelings of anguish and loss that some of her characters have had to endure.
L.J. has been previously published and has shared several online stories and looks forward to continuing to share her work.
Contacts/Follow at :
Twitter: @LJHarrisAuthor
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/heartofdark0858/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6506545.L_J_Harris
Blog: https://theworldofljharris.blogspot.com.au
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/heartofdarkess
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LJHarrisAuthor?ref=hl author page
********************
Out now:
Heart of Glass (Bottom Drawer Publications)
This story was originally included in the SECOND CHANCES Anthology released in August 2012 and has been individually released to celebrate BDP’s anniversary.
Days after arriving in Australia for a working holiday, Zack Doherty is blindsided by the connection he instantly feels to Heath Connors, but circumstances don’t work in their favour. Zack is uncharacteristically forward in pushing Heath to accept a date when fate gives him a second opportunity.
Heath has only recently had the courage to admit his true self, walking away from his marriage and a good job when he could no longer lie to himself. The attraction he feels for a stranger that fleetingly crossed his path confirms he made the right choice.
Will Zack be the one to mend Heath’s heart of glass?
Kindle Edition, 203 pages
Published August 31st 2012 by Bottom Drawer Publications
ASINB0094AEQK2
edition languageEnglish
Just Like Pulling Teeth (Bollocks Anthology from Wayward Ink Press)
A trip to the dentist has never been so… interesting…
Kindle Edition, 54 pages
Published November 7th 2014 by Wayward Ink Press
ASINB00OJ31N2I
edition languageEnglish
Genre(s):
m/m romance/erotica
********************************************
Contests and Giveaways:
1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, L.J. Harris) is an eBook copy the reader’s choice of either my e-book Just Like Pulling Teeth or Heart of Glass via amazon. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find the Hunt “word or phrase” in bold green . Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.
******************************************
When did you start writing?
Five years ago.
Were you a reader as a child?
Yes.
What books as a child has the most impact on you?
My favourite was a pop up Wizard of Oz book. Also loved Disney stories such as Pinocchio and Cinderella.
Did that impression carry over into adulthood when you started writing?
I worked in a library for 11 years so that fed my addiction.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
People watching. Situations I find myself in can also often trigger an idea. And when I get writers block the shower is my place from which to draw inspiration.
Favorite genres to write in and why?
Love a good love story! I’ve always been a fan of reading the story of how two people meet.
Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?
Characters 90 percent of the time.
Do you have a favorite character that you have written?
That’s like choosing one child over another. All my characters have different aspects I love about them.
Favorite quote (doesn’t matter the source):
“Friends are the family you wish you had.”
Favorite book/story you have read as an adult:
Too many to name.
Do you have a certain regimen that you follow as a writer?
Not at all. I’m a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ kinda girl.
What inspired you to write your first book?
As stated in my bio, a close member of my family fell ill. My father was my inspiration, my rock, and as a talented musician himself, the one person who understood me. He passed 2 years ago, and I miss him every day. He and my husband were the ones who inspired me to write my first sentence, and I haven’t looked back since.
Do you have a specific writing style?
See above (fly by the seat of my pants). I find that until I start to write a character, and peel back the layers little by little, only then will plot points make themselves known.
What’s the hardest part of writing your books? Writers block! They need to make a pill…
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your first book?
Oh God yes! Mostly tweaking bits and pieces, nothing major.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor or has the biggest influence on you?
It’s impossible to choose one, but a group of people including M B Feeney, R E Hargrave, Kaye P Hallows and my co-author in a story that is close to my heart P Austin are among the endless number of people who have encouraged, inspired and made me feel as though I belong in the world of the author.
What book are you reading now?
Kaye P Hallows ‘Take my Chances’.
How do you think books written from authors in Australia or New Zealand differ in style, language, and culture?
Well the spelling and slang is often something readers from countries outside Aus/NZ have to contend with. The unique settings these countries provide also make for a nice change in backdrop, language, characters and scenes, the whole shebang.
My first impression of AUS/NZ was from stories and novels like Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds or Nevil Shute’s A Town Like Alice as well as from movies like The Man from Snowy River, The Dish, Rabbit Proof Fence, Strictly Ballroom, and yes, Crocodile Dundee! There are so many out there. What is your favorite AUS/NZ stories and favorite Australian/New Zealand movies?
Anything by N R Walker (Red Dirt Heart series is my fave) or Renae Kaye (Safe in His Arms and The Shearing Gun are fab!).. I have read everything he’s written and it’s all fantastic. Movies: The Lord of the Rings series (and Hobbit) for NZ, and Strictly Ballroom is my fave Aussie film.
If you were a tour guide, what would you like a visitor to see and what impression would you want them to take away with them when they leave?
I haven’t travelled so long I couldn’t say, but I guess the Great Barrier Reef would be a great start, followed by going to Crystal Creek rainforest retreat on the mid-north coast of NSW. Hubs and I went on our honeymoon there.
What’s your favorite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
I haven’t travelled much, but do go between home and the coast to see family on a regular basis.
What are your current projects?
His Personal Assistant, my new m/m novel.
What’s next up for you?
Finishing up HPA early 2015 and publishing, then working on whichever of my partially done documents inspires me.
Q: Is there any genre you love to read but wouldn’t tackle yourself?
Most definitely. Anything kinky – yes I am naughty and I love to read it (but it has to have a good plotline too) but would be terrified to write it.
