Please Welcome Author Heather Manning

Today my guest is Heather Manning, a fellow Astraea Press author. Her novel, Swept to Sea, was released in November. Heather's relatively new to AP, so I asked her several questions so that we can get to know more about her.

What do you do when you're not writing?

When I’m not writing, you can find me reading or acting. I think reading is a given considering I’m a writer, and acting is one of my favorites. I think all of these go hand in hand because they all involve characters and a created world.

What would your fans be surprised to know about you?

Some of my fans might be surprised to know that I was published at age 16—and I started working on Swept to Sea during eighth grade.

What's your idea of an ideal vacation?

Hmmm. I love going to new places, and England and New York City have been some of my favorites. I would love to go back to either of those places again. Plus, there’s theatre in NYC and London, and I really love theatre. I guess my ideal vacation is doing something I love where I love.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I chose my genre by reading in it. A lot. I discovered that I really enjoyed it and I had all these ideas just swarming in my head. This was the genre for me.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I was reading another book, and I suddenly came up with the idea that I really wanted to write a trilogy following the lives of three English ladies who are best friends and end up facing many adventures in the Caribbean.

What books/authors have influenced your writing?

I think my three favorite authors—Deeanne Gist, MaryLu Tyndall, and Mary Connealy influenced my writing. I absolutely love their writing and think it helped me with mine.

How did you come up with the title?

It took me a very long time to come up with the title “Swept to Sea.” I will be the first to admit, I am terrible at coming up with names. I put together lists filled with adjectives, nouns, and verbs that fit my book or were a part of it. Eventually, I paired those three words together and they seemed to be catchy and fitted the novel.

Excerpt from Swept to Sea:

"Hmmmm, what have we got here?" Caspian chuckled, tossing his baldric and weapons onto an armchair rather than putting them away. "Why, I do believe that I have a beautiful young lady hiding out under my desk. Now, is that not a strange occurrence, Reed?" Caspian asked. The child giggled, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "I daresay this has not happened to me before."

Lady Trenton's face flushed to a comely pink. She clambered to her feet, but tripped on her voluminous gown.

"Blast these skirts!" She muttered. Caspian chuckled at the word “blast” coming out of those pretty pink lips.

"Shame on you, Lady Trenton. A lady such as you should not use such loose language. Surely 'tis most improper." Caspian suppressed a grin at her reaction.

Lady Trenton gave him a deadly glare. The woman ceased struggling with her skirts and tried to rise quickly. In the process, she whacked her head against the corner of his desk.

After a moment of looking dazed, she crumpled to the floor in an unconscious heap.

Caspian immediately sobered and stooped down to take her limp form in his arms.

After a second her head jerked up and she struggled against his grasp. Caspian gently laid the woman on his bed. She moaned and curled onto her side, mumbling something incoherent.

Find Swept to Sea on Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, and Astraea Press 

Find Heather on her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.