Book Birthday and Advice for the Aspiring Writer from Heather Burch

First, a very happy book birthday to Chloe Neill, whose latest novel in her New York Times-bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series, HOUSE RULES, releases today.  I can promise you an amazing read.  If you’re interested in following her HOUSE RULES blog tour for giveaways and prizes, check out the details on her website here.

Next, I’m very pleased to feature on the blog today the fabulous Heather Burch, author of the Halfling series for Zondervan/HarperCollins and one of the members of the Sunshine Tour.  Barnes & Noble made the books a Top Teen Pick nationwide, and USA Today has called the series, “A well written, thoroughly thought out and utterly addicting read.”  I’ve asked Heather what piece of advice she’d offer to aspiring writers, and she responded:

Don’t be afraid to bleed onto the page. Dig deep when you write. Don’t hold anything back. If you aren’t feeling the emotion, a reader won’t feel it either. The deeper you dive into your own soul, the farther you will reach into the reader’s soul. Go to that place where you’re on the edge of fear, at the door of discovery and standing on the cliff of uncertainty. And above all else, trust. Trust your heart to know the story it wants to tell. Trust your characters to be far more brilliant than you could ever write them. And trust your instincts to lead you where you need to go.
One more thing.
Don’t let the act writing get too big in your life. You are a writer. But that doesn’t dictate your entire being. Trust me, being a writer can consume you. Don’t let it. When you step away from the computer, know that the sum of what you are cannot be contained in a book or even several books. You are a writer. But you are also so so much more.

I think this is brilliant advice!  For those of you who want to follow Heather and check out her books, she can be found on:

The Halflings Network

Her website

Twitter

Facebook