Helen Hardt Interview - Follow Me Darkly ~ JeanBookNerd

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#1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Helen Hardt published her first story in 2008, after studying abroad in France, practicing law for a short time, and spending fifteen years as a stay-at-home mom. She has currently written sixteen novels, five novellas, and two collections of shorter works. Her novel Craving, first in the Steel Brothers Saga, released to critical acclaim in May of 2016 and became a bestseller.

Helen is equally at home wielding her red pen as an editor. She’s a true grammar geek who is constantly annoyed that she can’t spot her own typos. Helen believes there is always something new to learn in this business, so she regularly takes writing classes and attends workshops and conferences.

When she’s not pounding away at her laptop, Helen can be found surfing Facebook with a glass of red wine in one hand and a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the other. She holds a blackbelt in taekwondo but is a hopeless romantic at heart. She lives in Colorado and is the proud mother of two incredibly handsome and gifted young men.

Tell us your latest news.
My big news right now is the release of Follow Me Darkly, coming September 29! This is my first book with Entangled Publishing. It’s been a blast, and I know my readers are going to love this new series!

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
I’d need to write a whole book just for this answer! Pretty much everything in my life influences my writing.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Making all the lists was amazing—and every writer’s dream—but I think what I love most is when I get emails from readers who tell me that my books moved them in some way. I’ve had a lot of readers tell me they never enjoyed reading until they read my books. I’ve also had several tell me that my books helped them get through some rough times in their lives.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I hope, after reading one of my books, readers will have a better understanding of what it is to be human and in love. Yes, even my paranormal books!

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?
Facebook! And email!

Can you tell us when you started FOLLOW ME DARKLY, how that came about?
Follow Me Darkly was a collaboration with my editor, Liz Pelletier. She and I have known each other for over ten years and we wanted to work together, so we came up with the premise in tandem, and then I wrote the book without plotting anything. I’m a pantser all the way! During edits, we continued our collaboration. It worked well!

What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?
Skye and Braden’s first date. I love the banter between them!

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I’d like to introduce Braden Black to Jonah Steel from my Steel Brothers Saga. Two alpha billionaire Dominants in a room together. They’d either learn a lot from each other or be at each other’s throats!

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
Braden turned out to be much more complex that I initially realized. All I knew when I started writing was that he was a billionaire Dominant. As he came alive, I realized he had many more layers.

What’s the most ridiculous fact you know?
I can sing all the states in alphabetical order! I can also answer any trivia question about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books.

What according to you is your most treasured possession?
They’re not possessions, but my two sons are my greatest treasures.

Best date you've ever had?
After a year of being casual, my future husband and I decided to take our relationship more seriously. He took me to this amazing French restaurant where we ate Chateaubriand and drank a wonderful Bordeaux. We were poor law students at the time, so it was quite a splurge!

If you could go back in time to one point in your life, where would you go?
Well, who doesn’t want to be younger? But honestly, I like where I am right now.

What event in your life would make a good movie?
Probably my adolescence. I was a mess!

Which incident in your life totally changed the way you think today?
Without getting too personal, I went through some pretty serious depression in 1999. Working through it really changed what’s important to me and how I look at life philosophically and spiritually.

What is one unique thing are you afraid of?
Moths. I can’t stand them! And to me, butterflies are just glorified moths. Yuck!

What was the best memory you ever had as a writer?
A reader said my book Craving saved her life.

I’ve always been a control freak. But he makes me crave submission…

Working for a hotel heiress and social media influencer may not be my dream job, but at least it allows me time to do what I really love—take photographs. Pretty good for a wholesome farm girl from Kansas trying to make it in Boston. Life may not be easy working for a diva, but at least I know what to expect.

Until blue-collar billionaire Braden Black strides into the office. He’s beyond handsome and sexy, but also domineering with a definite hard edge. I’m not sure why he’s interested in me, but within a few weeks, he’s showing me a world I never knew existed.

He’s opened up a side of me I can only face in the dark, and it’s quickly becoming an obsession. How can I give up something this addictive—even if his secrets could ultimately destroy me?

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