Author Interview with Heather L. Barksdale

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Author Interview with Heather L. Barksdale

Heather L. Barksdale is the author of Arriving Through Time, a Young Adult Time Travel Adventure novel. She writes about creative solutions to writer’s block and reviews books on her blog. I had the pleasure of getting to know Heather this October and talking about our shared love of Halloween and Science Fiction.

Eliza: Heather, thank you so much for joining me today! I’d like to start out by talking about your book! Your novel, Arriving Through Time, has such an interesting premise. I love reading time travel stories, but I would be way too intimidated to write one. What was your inspiration for the book?

Heather:  Hey Eliza!  Thanks for having me.  Arriving Through Time was actually inspired by a recurrent dream that I had when I was in high school.  It was one of those dreams that was vivid and stuck with you.  I had bits and pieces of this same dream for years after the first time it happened.  Besides it happening over and over again, the dream also had the most beautiful and bright shade of blue piercing through it.  Over ten years later, I was on a trip with my girlfriends and we went on a tour in a cave.  While we were on the tour, we came upon the same most beautiful and bright shade of blue illuminating a pool of water – the same shade of blue from my dream!  I took that as a sign and started writing Arriving Through Time shortly after that adventure.  It inspired the cover image as well!

Eliza: I know that this is the first book you have published. Is it the first manuscript you tried to write, or do you have a pile of unfinished projects somewhere?

Heather: Arriving Through Time is the first fictional manuscript that I have published and the first one that I have tried to write.  I do have a lot of other ideas that I am starting to work on, but nothing that I have left behind.

Eliza: Do you read a lot of the same genre that you write?

Heather: I do!  I love historical fiction and sci-fi.  I especially love when the two can be combined with each other or with other genres like romance.  I read every night before I go to sleep (and often throughout the weekend).  I read so much that a friend of mine suggested that I do book reviews.  So, now I do!  

Eliza: How long did it take you to write your book?

Heather:  It took me about a month to really get my head around the plot.  After that, it took me about 6 months to write, edit, rewrite, re-edit, (multiply this by like 5 more), format and publish.

Eliza: As a self-published author, what made you choose to go wide with your book over enrolling it in KDP Select?

Heather:  Great question.  As this was my first novel, I was unsure as to whether I should go with KDP Select or look at other distributors.  I reached out to local authors to get their recommendations and it was still a mixed response.  I ended up deciding to also go with Barnes and Noble and Google play.  Both of these distributors offer different help for self published authors.  I have found casting a wide net helpful as I am still learning about things like marketing. 

Eliza: I haven’t tackled formatting a paperback yet. What was that process like for you?

Heather: I went the Amazon route for the paperback.  There are specific requirements for cover images (pixels and dimensions), book formatting, etc. My husband is a software engineer and he has been immensely helpful with a lot of the self-publishing requirements as well as the blog.  

Eliza: I’m jealous! I would love to have help in that area. I love your recent post about distracting yourself from writer’s block with Halloween. I’m totally doing that myself right now. What made you want to focus on blogging about writer’s block over the other aspects of writing?

Heather: I had a hard time with writer’s block when I first started writing.  I kept getting stuck and didn’t know what to do about it.  I googled what to do and found the same 10 vague ideas across different sites.  I couldn’t really find a place that people could go to get specific ideas for specific problems.  That’s what prompted me to start “The Secret to Writer’s Block”.  I want to share what I have learned, help other writers break through and give them a forum to also share what they have learned.   

Eliza: Just one last question. I read a response you had in a different interview about the peacock theme on your blog and I just wanted to say that I love it. I happen to own four peahens, so I appreciate seeing them around the internet!

Heather:  I’m so glad you love it!  That’s amazing that you have four!  I actually spent a long time developing the website motif.  I wanted something that represented beauty and strength.  I’ve always thought peacocks to look so majestic- it seemed like a perfect fit!  

Eliza: Thank you so much for taking the time out to answer my questions. Where should readers go to find out more about you and your book?

Heather:  Thanks so much Eliza!  

Please check out my website:  https://heatherlbarksdale.com/  where you can find more information on Arriving Through Time, The Secret to Writer’s Block, and my book reviews at Heather’s Bookshelf.  

You can also find me on Goodreads, Facebook,  or Instagram:  @heatherlbarksdale

Arriving Through Time is on sale on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited for $2.99 through the month of November. Be sure to check it out and take advantage of that great deal!