I am WAAAAY past excited to have Heather Self stop by for a chat today!! I met Heather over Labor Day weekend and was so impressed I wanted to make sure you all got a chance to meet her as well!!  It turns out, not only is she a fun person to hang around with, I just finished her debut novel, "THE ONE," and she is an extremely talented author as well!  

Thanks for being here today, tell me, what do you look for in the books you read?
Strong, well-developed characters; snark, and humor. If the characters are awesome and believable you can pretty much get away with doing anything. I really like unique twists on fairly tales, and unique lore associated with your "regular" monsters. Pretty much just hand me a book and I'll at least read the first few chapters.

I love strong characters who can make me laugh, too.  So who is your favorite author and do you have a favorite book?
EEEEP! I refuse to answer on the grounds it might get me beaten to a fine pulp! Category wise I tend to stick to YA/NA so there a ton of authors I have on instant buy whenever they have a new book come out and before you ask there are way too many (both Indie & traditional pub) to  list. I also tend to lean more PNR than contemp, but I'll give just about anything a go. However, I do have to give major shout outs to Addison Moore, Tammara Webber, and Michelle Leighton. I got sucked in by their books FAST and then had to start stalking them and making a nuisance of myself. So their books are fab but the shout out is because I wouldn't be writing today if they hadn't, ahem, nudged me along.

Favorite book...you're kidding right? How am I supposed to pick just one?! That's like asking me to choose between chocolate and coffee!

LOL!  Well I don't want you beaten to a pulp so how about telling me what's the best part about being an author?
For me it's been getting to meet/brainstorm/collaborate with other authors. Meeting the bloggers I was blogger friends with before I became an author and chatting with lovely peeps who've read it. For the most part,that has actually been pretty surreal. My book was only published in June, so to have people actually reading it, especially complete strangers or other authors, I'm usually all..."Wait. You read MY book? And you liked it? That's so weird."
The One is AMAZING, you're going to have to get used to strangers telling you how great it is!  What is the worst part about being an author?
Ugh. Finding the time to get it all done, and there are SO many stories in my head! Sadly I feel most creative right when I have to leave to pick up my kids from school. I've tried doing talk to text so I can have the general ideas when I get home, but that has produced some incomprehensible sentences. Funny. But completely unusable
I'm glad you've got tons of stories in your head, WRITE FASTER! What do you want others to know about you?
Ohhh...ummm...I have NO idea. What do other people put here? Insert their answer here for me ;) Oh! Random fact. I know all the lyrics to the Golden Girls theme song. Not sure that's really something to be proud of but...
What was the last book you read?
I just finished Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo who was here in Austin for the Austin Teen Book Fest and it was WHOA! Incredibly cool YA Fantasy that will look beautiful on the big screen.
I've just found another to add to my TBR, I don't know whether to thank you or strangle you now!  LOL!  So, where do you see yourself in 1, 5 and 10 years?
In 1 year--getting ready to move to France; still writing
In 5--living in France, running a bed & breakfast; still writing
In 10--living in France, running a bed & breakfast, traveling (because we'll be empty-nesters); still writing
I'm noticing a bit of a pattern here...lol
France?  Wow, not at all what I expected.  Who is your favorite Book Blogger?
Dang, woman! You are a trouble maker for sure! I was friends with quite a few before I even started writing so you can't make me pick just one. The blogs I regularly frequent are Stuck in Books, The Autumn Review, Two Chicks on Books, The Bookish Babes, Some Like it Paranormal, Bookish Brunette, Fiktshun, SupaGurl Books, YA Sisterhood...the list could go on and on and on. I love to check out what they're reading because a lot of the time that's how I find my next favorite.
Okay, okay, that last one wasn't fair.  What project are you working on now?
Currently working on a novella for one of the characters in the Kin Series/Portal Trilogy as well as the Key (Book 2 in the Portal Trilogy). I also have to keep jotting scenes down from other book ideas bouncing around in my head. It's a very busy place and sometimes a character gets obnoxious until I write something down. They're so selfish!
Last question, if you could meet anyone (alive or dead) at Starbucks for a cup of White Mocha Latte, who would it be?
 First of all, does it have to be white mocha latte? That much milk is SO not my friend! As to whom...I'd probably have to say my husband. I know, I know. Not a mind blowing answer but coffee dates are kind of our thing and it's rare that I actually get to spend enough time with him.
Heather, thank you so much for stopping by today!!  If any of you would like to stalk Heather (with me), here are the best places to find her:
1. Twitter ID  @heatherself
4. Link to THE ONE on B&N
5. Link to THE ONE on Amazon
6. Link to Heather's web page:  http://www.puttingpentopage.com/