And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Our Mystery Author this round is Heather Waters. She is a fresh new voice in the world of romance. Her first book, THE DEVIL'S POSSESSION, hit the shelves with Top Pick reviews and her second, DESTINY'S WARRIOR, is sure to follow suit.

Below, Heather share more about herself and her writing. I think you'll agree she is an author to watch for. To learn more about and/or contact Heather, visit her website.

http://www.heatherwaters.net/home.html

Thank you Heather!

1. What was it like growing up in a military family? I'm sure there were a lot of pros and cons.

I loved growing up as an Air Force brat so much, I thought I definitely wanted to become a military wife when I got older. Obviously, moving every two years, keeping friends was difficult, even impossible, but it makes the friends I made as an adult so much easier to cherish as I feel they're now a genuine part of my life and will remain a part of it forever. This gave me my current appreciation for books, though. Characters crafted by women such as Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey moved with me each time, giving me someone I knew well to cling to. I'm forever indebted to the romance authors of the late eighties, early nineties for giving me friends.

Growing up in a different country forced me to mature at a faster rate than a lot of other kids, I think, leaving me floundering to understand normal kids when I moved back to the states as a teen. I could never quite identify with things they felt were important—the partying, etc. On the weekends in Turkey, we climbed castles and saw history. A completely different scenario than what non-military kids are exposed to for the most part. That doesn't mean I never got into trouble, but there was always the angel on my shoulder reminding me that screwing up in a big way would also have dire consequences on my dad's career. Then, of course, there was the small fact that my dad was an OSI agent (sort of the Air Force equivalent of the F.B.I) which meant the chances of me getting away with anything were slim to none. He could sniff out my lies and guilt the minute I walked in the door....

Now, given the events happening these days, I'm certainly glad I found my match in a civilian. I'm not sure I'd be as strong as my mother was, watching my husband leave for months on end, never knowing if he's all right. My respect for military wives is unmeasured. My brother is in the Air Force now, leaving for Afghanistan in November, and I marvel at my sister-in-law whose worry is undoubtedly 100 times greater than my own (and let me tell you, I'm one worried sister!) I still want to take my kids to see the world, but I want my husband there when I do it.

2. And the places you've lived! Turkey for 6 yrs? Must have been amazing...

It was! I get so frustrated that the bits and clips shown of Turkey on the news are the bad parts, the dirty and poor parts. But the truth is, it's no different than seeing a major U.S. city like NYC on the news -- You usually see the muggings or the violence, but there are plenty of wonderful, beautiful places there, too, I'm sure. The beaches alone, in Turkey, are amazing, and the people are some of the kindest I've ever met. And don't get me started on the food! I left Turkey for the last time as a child of about twelve, so I'm sure there's a bit of rose-tint on my glasses, but I wouldn't change that for the world.

3. Family: 1 of EVERYTHING. 1 mom, 1 dad, 1 sister, 1 brother, 1 husband, 1 daughter, 1 son, 1 dog. Are you the big, middle or baby sister? How old are the kids? And who is your biggest fan?

Ah, we now have 2 dogs. We brought a baby American Eskimo into the family last month named Titan and he's a doll baby! As for my family, I'm the baby. The typical baby, as well. I was far more spoiled than my brother and sister, a fact they'd have no problem testifying to. My kids are now eleven and nine (give me a second to cry a little at how quickly time passes), and while they're huge fans of their mom (no, they have NOT read my work) the biggest fan award belongs to several people in my opinion.

The afore mentioned adult friends who mean the world to me are my critique group, the Plot Queens. They swept me up when they saw I had potential and pointed me in the right direction, giving me, who, at the time, had not one tool other than imagination in my writers' toolbox, an entire office full of knowledge. I can honestly say they were the first fans of my work in general and are still the first ones I turn to when I have a new idea. My husband has never read a word I've written, which suits me just fine, but he's been a fan of what I do since the beginning as well.

He let me stop working long enough to see if I could get anywhere as a writer, and is the first to brag about what I do to everyone. And, of course, my mom who was there to lend me money for postage when I couldn't afford to mail out the next proposal or contest entry, who let me cry at every rejection (and there were loads of opportunities for that!) and who was just as excited as I was when I made that first sale. I've been blessed with so many cheerleaders! Even my Aunt Lauren and my sister were always there when I was excited over a new story idea. Lucky me!

4. I saw at your website that you named your heroine in "DESTINY'S WARRIOR" after your niece. How cool is that? Does the character reflect Your niece's personality?

Chuckling here. NO! Nakkole, in DESTINY'S WARRIOR, is extremely lacking in the confidence department. She's never quite sure she's able to do the tasks given to her, certain there's someone better suited for them than her. My niece, Tiffany Nakkole, is the polar opposite. That girl knows what she wants, knows she's beautiful and smart and that no one is going to stop her from doing what she wants! They share similarities of the heart, the kindness and warmth and worry for others though. And I did base Nakkole's appearance a bit on Tiffany as I find her sickeningly beautiful. But the lack of confidence in Nakkole, I drew more from myself.

5. Tells us about your books: The DEVIL'S POSSESSION and DESTINY'S WARRIOR.

THE DEVIL'S POSSESSION is a very personal book to me. Unfortunately my life and the life of so many women I care about, has been touched by violence and/or rape. I didn't want to delve too deeply into that dark place, so for me, romance was the best setting for a book like this. Mostly because, I hope, it will offer a bit of hope and light to anyone who's experienced what Faith went through. Yes, it was a bit theraputic for me, but it's not a really heavy book. I've been blessed with an amazing number of wonderful reviews for DEVIL, including a 4 1/2 star top pick! from Romantic Times Bookreviews magazine, but there have been one or two who said Faith's reaction to her rape were unrealistic. The truth is, if you've never experienced such a traumatic thing before, I'm not certain you can know what IS realistic. To everyone, it is different.

For me, the interesting part was Draven, who might not have been physically raped, but who was emotionally and mentally raped all his life. I loved the chance to give both of the characters the redemption and love they so deserved.

DESTINY, on the other hand, is completely different! I started working on this world many years ago (as my collection of faery figurines and items will attest.) It was fun and exciting to throw yself into a world I created, to play with magic a bit more and really dive into my love of fantasy. 

I had originally written it for the Harlequin LUNA line before it debuted, knowing only that they were looking for fantasy romance. But when the first books from LUNA hit the shelves, I knew I didn't belong there. My writing is too light and I had far more romance than it seemed LUNA wanted. I was afraid it would become a book I'd have to shove under the bed. Luckily, I nabbed an editor at Berkley who seems to like strange ideas. She gave me the chance to run with it.  

6. What's next?

Ah, the question I keep asking myself. That'll be up to my editor! No, seriously, I have a couple of projects with my editor now, and many, many more up my sleeve. I'd love to do a sequel to DESTINY'S WARRIOR where the Dark King they are trying to keep buried in DESTINY'S WARRIOR becomes a potential hero. I've also had suggestions from readers to do a follow-up to THE DEVIL'S POSSESSION where baby Aileas is the heroine or Shane is the hero, but at the moment, I have no plans to do that. One thing I know for sure is that whatever's next will have a glimmer of magic. I just can't do normal. I've tried and it's ugly!

7. How long have you been writing? Is this something you've always wanted to do?

I've been writing since I was a kid. I won an essay contest in the 5th grade about conservation, which won above even the high-schoolers, and since then, have always written stories. I read a lot of Christopher Pike as a teen and therefore have many first chapters of teen horror novels I wrote in high school. I never tried romance until I was a mother for the second time, though, at least not seriously. (I had written fantasy stories about me and some rather embarrassing boy band members as a teen that my dad (to my horror) found and remarked upon. That might have scared me off romance for a while, as I remember a rather detailed "fantasy" where my father had read it and commented in my chapter "Oh, they're going to do the nasty!" I'm surprised I'm not more screwed up than I am by this lol!)

I started trying to get published in 2001. Many, many, many rejections later, I sold in 2005. That's really not a long time to try in this business, but I crammed about 15 years worth of experience into those 4 years, mailing out proposal after proposal, so that I had several rejections flying back at me each week. I wanted this. I'm not good at anything else, so this simply had to work out!