Interview: Pamela Hearon

Today’s interview is with Pamela Hearon, author of The Timestone Key, who shares with us her favorite scene in the novel, how her own love life provides inspiration for her work and some insight on her newest work, His Hotness, available today!

LZ: How did you come up with the idea for The Timestone Key?

PH: Since I was a child, I’ve always had a fascination with the King Arthur legend, so much so that I talked my husband into a vacation in England, during which we would visit sites linked with Arthur.  It was during that vacation the idea came to me.  Each site we visited added something else to the story growing in my mind.  When we got back home, I shocked my family with the announcement: “I’m going to write a book!”  They all looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I started writing the next day—and have written every day since.

LZ: When you came home post-Euro trip and made your writing intentions, was that the first time you ever wanted to write a book? Had you written anything previously?

PH: When I announced I was going to write a book, it was actually the culmination of a lifelong dream. I’ve always written–mostly poetry and short stories, and some of those were published. I had just never made up my mind until then that I had something that would only work as a longer piece.

LZ: Did your story require research of Arthurian legends?

PH: That’s a hard question to answer.  Occasionally, while writing the book, I might have to stop and check something out.  But a lifetime of reading about Arthur was my best research, along with the journal I kept during the vacation.  The story is my own version of the legend with some twists to the standard storyline.  Arthur always struck me as such a great guy, I wanted him to have his happy ending, and the legends don’t provide that.  So it was up to me to rewrite the legend, but in a way that would remain true to the original.  Quite a formidable task!

LZ: What about Arthur lets you know he was a good guy?

PH: Arthur ~sigh~… He’s always been my dream man. Arthur was strong and courageous–a born leader, but he was also fair-minded (the Round Table), chivalrous, loyal and trusting. In fact, being too trusting was actually his downfall. I think he loved so deeply and so purely it never occurred to him that love could be any other way. And I think many of us can identify with that . That makes him pretty special to me.

LZ: Is there a scene you’re most proud of in your current work?

PH: The scene I’m most proud of in The Timestone Key is the climax.  It still makes me cry every time I read it—and I’ve read it hundreds of times.  I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t give any details except to say it makes me feel like I’ve righted a 1500 year-old wrong.

LZ: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

PH: The theme of the story is to follow your heart.  That same theme runs through pretty much everything I write.  Our brain tells us the logical path to follow, but the heart gives voice to the soul—our inner longings.  That’s the path to true happiness.

LZ: As per your Lyrical Press author page, your own love life is very inspiring to you. Can you elaborate on this?

PH: My first husband and I married too young.  We were high school sweethearts, married a year after graduation.  By the time we turned 25, we were different people.  That marriage ended in a bitter divorce, and for a while, I was distrustful—not just of men, but of myself also.

And then I met this wonderful guy who was funny and kind and gentle and caring—and above all, honest and loyal.  He didn’t always say what I wanted to hear, but he was always truthful and straightforward.  He taught me not to take myself so seriously, and he made me feel loved in a way I’d never felt before.  All of my heroes are loosely based on him because, what I want most in a partner, I found in him.

LZ: Does your husband know how much he inspires your work? What’s he have to say about it?

PH: My husband didn’t know at first how much he inspires my work, but now that he’s read my stories, of course he recognizes the pieces of him that make up my heroes’ personalities. I tell him I’m going to make him a legend in his own time . Sometimes he gets some ribbing from his friends, but deep down, I think he enjoys being a sex symbol!

LZ: How do you challenge yourself as a writer?

PH: I challenge myself by writing about some of the things that make me most uncomfortable with myself.  I use many of my own weaknesses and flaws in my characters.  Sometimes that can make passages or scenes especially difficult to write, but it also gives me a deep insight that I try to convey in my word choices.

LZ: What can readers expect next from Pamela Hearon?

PH: I’m sooo glad you asked this question!  My second novel, His Hotness, is a March 2010 release from The Wild Rose Press.  It’s a romantic comedy about a young woman who has developed a one hundred point scale to help her find the man of her dreams—His Hotness.  But scales have been known to lie … and so have men!

"His Hotness" by Pamela Hearon

PH (cont.): Currently, I’m working on a contemporary single-title series focusing on characters from my hometown.  I’m having a great time with it, and more and more story lines keep popping into my head.  I’ll just have to wait and see where they all take me!

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To purchase The Timestone Key from its publisher, Lyrical Press, visit www.lyricalpress.com/the_timestone_key.

To purchase His Hotness from its publisher Wild Rose Press, visit www.thewildrosepress.com/his-hotness-p-3922.html?zenid=95375b49409345c59962f0a5464f5aa6.

For more information on Pamela Hearon, visit www.pamelahearon.com.