Guest Author Heaven Leigh Eldeen

Good moring, all. Today we are in our cyber-den, cozied up to the fireplace, chatting with Author Heaven Leigh Eldeen. Thank you for joining us.

Debbie: Welcome to Garland and Gould! Today Laura and I would like to welcome author, Heaven Liegh Eldeen, to our blog.

Laura: Oh, yes! Welcome, Heaven Liegh! We’re so excited to have you here. (To Debbie) So cool! She’s our first author interview!

Debbie: Ohhh, our FIRST, mwahahahahaha!

Laura: Okay, don’t scare her off. Though, I doubt you could really. Heaven Liegh has just released a young adult story called The Demon Side. It’s a paranormal/fantasy romance, rich with wonderfully drawn characters and a riveting plot.

Debbie: Yes, she said it was a series and she’s already working on the next story. So, we have a few questions for Heaven. First one is about your inspiration for The Demon Side? I used to spend a few weeks every summer with my grandparents. When I was five or six, I can remember vividly the witch that used to stare at me at night through the laundry room door. It was attached to the bedroom I used, and she looked just like the evil witch in the Wizard of Oz. She used to laugh and me and sneak up to my bed, lol. She WAS real. Did you have a witch or demon that inspired The Demon Side?
Heaven: My husband loves horror flicks. I absolutely hate watching scary movies. I do okay with the slasher films such as Friday the 13th and Halloween. However, movies that deal with the unseen, ghosts, and entities, flip me out! It doesn’t matter that I know the movies are completely fake and improbable. I can’t help but run through my house, turning on every light, screaming for my husband to hold my hand while I relieved my bladder during a commercial break. Of course, the jokester my husband is, never resisted cracking a few jokes about what a pansy I am or attempts to scare the poo out of me on our way back to our recliners.
AAATired of pranks and jokes, I built a self-defense mechanism in my head. I keep my eyes on the television but send my brain into La-La Land. Well, they have scary monsters in La-La Land too. Lucky for me, I set the rules for that amusement park.
AAAShort story longer, one evening I snuggle into my hubby as he turns on what is not just a scary movie, but the worse kind of scary movie, one about demons and ghosts attacking you in your sleep. How do you defend against that? You can’t. So, my defenses raise and off goes my brain to stand in line at the tea cups, when suddenly a Demon stands in line behind him.
AAABeing the cordial little guy my ball of pink spaghetti happens to be, he strikes up a conversation with the mortifying beast. Next thing I know, Rahovart, Etta, John, Alastor, The Arches and Rene are at the snack bar, stuffing their faces with nachos, sucking down lemonade and trading stories back and forth while I sit in the background typing every word that passes between them.

Laura: Oh wow! Man, your brain is cordial! LOL Guess I’m kinda close to that…like so many kids, my monster lived under my bed. But I didn’t hide under the covers. Nope, I forced myself to lean over the edge and stare that beast in the eye! Course, there wasn’t anything there except a bunch of toys and clothes that I’d stuffed under there instead of cleaning my room properly. Yeah, mom wasn’t a happy camper… Sooo, we’ve gotten a peek at your psyche, tell us how this all translated into putting pen to paper (or tapping the keyboard). What exactly got you started writing?
Heaven: My writing career began with a rivalry between my sister-in-law Echo and myself. For years we would go fist to cuffs until finally we took a survey of the collateral damages our feuds caused. In an effort to put an end to the squabbling, she gave me a vampire book for my birthday. It was far from the genre I enjoyed reading, but I had to give it a chance, in an effort for peace. A few months and fifteen vampire books later, I expressed to her I wanted something new. She responded with a snippy “Oh, you think you can do better?” Her reply was intended to be a shot at me but I took it as a challenge. Four months later, my first novel was complete and the love for writing had made its home deep within me.

Debbie: I love it! So, did Echo have to concede the point to you?
Heaven:Yes she did. Echo is now one of my largest fans and promoter. It is a sweet victory for me. Hehe.

Laura: Love the title: The Demon Side. Just brings all kinds of images to mind. But after you read the vampire story from your sis-in-law and you decided to take her 'challenge', did you know the story would turn out to be young adult?
Heaven: When I begin a story I don't think about what category or genre it fits into. My fingers just type what my gut and soul tell them to type. Finding where it fits I leave up to my publisher Decadent Publishing.

Debbie: Great idea!!
Laura: Yeah, that takes the pressure of having to write your story a certain way. You’re free to just let the words flow and then find the niche. Nice!
Debbie: Are you working on anything new?
Heaven: If you ask my husband, I’m working on way too many projects. He can’t understand how I keep them all straight. I am currently working on six other novels, including the second book in The Demon Side trilogy. In book two, The Human Side, we find our main characters, Ra, Etta, John and Rene, trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, while dealing with new happenings. Once again, good versus evil will collide around Etta, but our hero may just surprise you.

Laura: Oh, another great title! I started out reading King and Koontz then I slipped over into romance. Are you a horror fan? It’s been awhile since I’ve read something really chilling. Do you have any recommendations?
Heaven: Yes and no! I love reading horror. Watching it not so much. Hands down my favorite authors are Dan Dillard and William Castle! Man can they spin a frightening tale.
Laura: Dillard and Castle. Got it! Gonna go check them out right after this interview.

Debbie: Wow! That’s a lot of projects rattling around in one head, lol! So, how do you keep all your projects straight?
Heaven: Most people I talk to think I am joking when I say my characters are voices in my brought to life with a stroke of the key. I'm not joking when I say this. Each character I create is like a friend I have had since elementary school. I know their life and their stories as if I have lived it with them. And in some cases I have. Plus, it helps having the knack for being able to keep gossip on everyone straight. I seem to be the one all my friends vent off to. I have to be able to tell them all apart 'cause if friend A calls and I confuse her with friend B, there could be some serious repercussions. So, I use my mad bestest friend skills with my works in progress as well.

Laura: LOL Girl, you got it going on. Me? Coffee and a notepad.
Debbie: Uh huh, like the five cups of coffee you had this morning? I wouldn’t want to read the notepad after all that.
Laura: LOL Yeah, I’m still trying to decode the scribbles. Don’t we have a blurb and excerpt around here? I’d like to the book cover, too—especially with a title like The Demon Side! That cover’s got to rock!
Debbie: Oh yes, cover, blurb, buy link…even an excerpt. We got it all!
Laura: Heaven Liegh, thank you so much for letting us interview you and sharing your latest release with us.
Debbie: Yes! And thank you for being our first. It wasn’t THAT bad was it???


BUY LINK

Blurb
Every kid has problems. Every kid has even more problems when they move to a new home. But when a kid with problems moves to a new home that has a Demon living inside it—look out!

Etta’s world is about to spin out of control when she encounters her new roommate—and Rahovart, that ancient trickster, is in for a few surprises too. So don’t mind all the crashing and rumbling; that’s just the normal noise Angels and Demons make when they’re fighting an epic war in the attic.

One thing’s for sure: Etta and Rahovart will have to go through Hell to Heaven and back again before that old Victorian home in Quantico Town finally quiets down…

Excerpt:
AEtta plopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. I wished I could hear her thoughts. Her father had just admitted to being a murderer for all practical purposes, though that was not how I viewed him. I truly believed John only tried to save the village, but his fervor and some help from a desperate Alastor, turned what should have been a heroic act into a bloodbath. Many men have unknowingly fallen from grace in the name of the greater good. Now, hopefully Etta would see that her father was just the victim of blurred lines between good and evil.
A“What are you thinking?” I asked as I lay down next to her on the bed.
A“Can a person still go to Heaven even if they’ve killed someone?”
A“Well, I’m not in the business of getting people to Heaven, Etta. That’s the last place I want them to go,” I reluctantly replied.
A“Even if it were me?” Etta stared hard at me with watery eyes, looking right into my blackened soul. I never gave much thought to where her soul would go, except to stop her from mistakenly giving it to me.
A“That is a choice for you to make. I can’t force you to choose a side. I can only put the temptations in front of you.”
A“You didn’t answer my question.”
A“What do you want me to say? I want to see you burn in the depths of Hell? You’ll never hear that from me. Only you and your actions can decide where you go when you leave this world.”
A“I would go if it meant I could be with you, you know.”
A“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” As much as I would have loved for that to be the case, her comment angered me. I couldn’t imagine a person like her becoming something like me.
A“I know that when you’re around I feel safe nothing could ever hurt me. I get butterflies in my stomach when you touch me. I know your soul, Ra. I don’t know how, but I know. I knew it the second I saw you. You weren’t meant for this existence. You fought for good once, and I’m certain you will again.” Etta was strong in words. She spoke with solid confidence. She described what I felt.