Happy Autumn and the Electric Journey - Heather Long

I love autumn, more than most seasons. It may be that I grew up in Texas and autumn is such a welcome relief from the brutal heat of summer. This autumn is particularly challenging because the weather has been so bi-polar the last couple of years and in my area, we desperately need a cold wet, winter to kill off the bugs and pollens. I can’t go through another winter of allergy attack on top of allergy attack. I just got back from Vegas, and I have lots of news to share—I just can’t share it yet.

So, speaking of autumn, this one has been wildly busy for me. It’s also seen some great stories come into their own with fantastic payoffs like Raising Kane. I was really worried about this book when I began writing the novel because it was Kid’s book. While my readers have all shown such deep affection toward Kid since the beginning of the Fevered Hearts series, I’d felt much the same way.

I also knew just how challenging his book would be to write, and how dark his journey would turn. That said, there were moments that literally had me grinning from ear-to-ear in the book as well.  I always know a great deal about my characters when I begin writing them, but other parts of their personalities reveal themselves as I go along.

Kid’s journey became more remarkable due to the potholes along his path and his very, very violent struggle against taming his gift. I knew from book one that he would have to break before he consented to taking the road he needed to be on. That said, it was never easy for me to see him torture himself or be so very tortured by his abilities.

But with the release of Raising Kane, something truly amazing happened. Every reader who reached out to me to seemed to have been electrified by Kid’s story in a different way. They were touched by his dedication to family, his gift for self-sacrifice or conversely angry with the family (Jason in particular) for slights against him.

While the journey I take when I write a book is very specific, the reader’s journey seems to be as unique to the story as it is to the reader. So as the weather turns and cools, I’m delighted at the turns in the road the stories I write are taking—and more than that, I am grateful for the readers who are along for the ride.

Happy autumn, everyone. What are you reading?

Heather