I’m excited to feature another sister Rose (published by The Wild Rose Press) today.  Please welcome Jeny Heckman, author of The Warrior’s Progeny.  I have lots of questions, so let’s get to it!

At what age did you write your first story?

I was a very busy thirty-six-year old mom of two, and I wrote it just to see if I could.

Which genre was the first to hook you?

Historical – Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was eight.

What was your first published book?

It’s called The Catch. I just wanted to see if I could write a book, and my favorite show at the time was Deadliest Catch. The book is about Faith, a woman crab fisherman, which is not only unusual but superstitiously unlucky. So, I wanted to write her story.

Sounds interesting!  What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

Great question, Judith! Really, it’s the writing. I love sitting down with a white screen and no interruptions, and creating a story until my arms and fingers literally want to fall off. There’s nothing better. So often it’s all the other things that get in the way.

What are you working on now?

In fact, I’m beginning the edits with my publisher on a spin off novella from the Heaven & Earth series, entitled Dee’s Cornucopia. The fans voted overwhelmingly to know her story. Between releasing and promoting The Warrior’s Progeny and those edits, I’m re-working The Catch to get it just perfect and then re-release it as well. In all, I hope to have four books out this year and I’m down to two!

Whoa!  That’s a lot of books for one year.  Of all the settings you’ve used (or created!) for your books, which is your favorite?

Oh, it’s got to be Kauai, Hawaii. I even had to go there to do “research” for The Sea Archer, book one of the series. I fell in love with the Garden Island and the Hawaiian Monk Seals!

Cool!  Have you ever dreamed about a character you created?

Ha ha, all of them! They bug me all the time, and yes, even in my sleep!

If you could have a conversation with anyone—dead or alive—who would it be?

Seriously, it would be my father-in-law, Chuck Heckman. I wrote The Catch while he was in the last stages of his cancer, and as he passed. He was an incredibly warm and loving man, who had no judgement. I would give anything to sit down and talk with him again.

I truly wish I could grant you that wish.  How about another?  If you could travel to any time and place, when and where would that be?

Well, both of my kids are now grown. I’d either go back, just to do it all again or go back to the times when our country was first being formed and all that history was being made.

Great choices!  If you could step inside any book or series and live there for a week, which would you choose?

It’s got to be Outlander, right? I am in love with Scotland and always have been, the greatest trip of my life was going there and staying a month. Seeing the history of that land and the lasting structures is really nothing short of amazing.

I studied Scottish history at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and LOVED living there, so I’m with you!  If a fairy godmother appeared and offered you one thing—anything at all—what would you request?

Okay, I’m going to be really awful and boring here but say a new body, especially feet and knees! Very unsexy, I know but there it is!

A new body…not a bad idea!  Now, it’s time to learn some of your favorites!

Sound: My kid’s laughter

Eye color: Green

Foreign language (whether or not you speak it!): Gaelic

Song: I love powerful songs with huge meaning like Hurt (Johnny Cash), or show theme songs like Woke up this Morning (Sopranos) or Outlander’s original theme song (I know I’m weird). Then it’s country.

Book: Outlander

Movie: Pride and Prejudice and The Full Monty

TV show: So many! Game of Thrones, Soprano’s, 30 for 30’s

Cuisine: Italian

Cookie: Chocolate chip

US location: U.S. Virgin Islands

Foreign location: Scottish Highlands

And finally, list your preference from the following choices:

Tea or coffee? Triple Grande Nonfat Caramel Macchiato

Cake or pie? Lemon Meringue Pie

Halloween or Christmas? CHRISTMAS!!!!

Nancy Drew or Sherlock Holmes? Nancy Drew

Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters? Jane Austen

A mortal, vampire, ghost, or fae for a lover? Mortal

English gent, Scottish highlander, European count, or all-American guy? Scottish Highlander

I’d like to truly thank Judith and all her readers for having me on today. I’m truly thankful for your time! Cheers!

It’s been a pleasure having you here, Jeny.  I wish you all the best with your new release!  And now, a little more about The Warrior’s Progeny:

Colton Stone is a newly traded tight end whose reputation is as battered as his football helmet. When he receives a vacation invitation from his new teammates, he accepts. There he collides with Dr. Lillian Morgan, a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon, and doesn’t know what to think.

A widow with two children, Lilly is looking forward to her friends’ wedding. When she meets Colton Stone, his arrogant attitude only makes her long for the love she took for granted. Lilly struggles between letting go of her perfect past for an uncertain future.

Strange events occur, out of the realm of normal consciousness. When black energy touches their world Colt and Lilly become the pawns of the immortal Greek gods. Is the love developing between them natural, or part of a larger prophecy?

A peek between the pages:

“You couldn’t have known,” Colt said.

“I’m a doctor,” she retorted. “I’m trained to know.”

“Oh, bullshit.” She drew her brows together and looked at him with irritation. Undaunted, he continued. “You were his wife, not his doctor.” Glancing back at the picture, he drank from his glass. “He was a young guy…looked fit…father of two.” Colt turned to look at her again. “Young, fit, fathers of two don’t get stage four pancreatic cancer and die in ten months. He wasn’t your patient, Lillian, and you weren’t looking at him like a patient. He was your husband, and he died.”

“Colt.” She took a breath, placed a hand on his, and backed up a little. “Look, I know you want something, but we’re broken here, and I can’t give you what you…”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit. It’s how I feel. I’ve got kids to think about and responsibilities. You want easy and I’m not that.”

“You don’t even know me, Lilly.”

“I know. That’s what I’ve been trying to say.”

“No, that’s what you’re trying to use as an excuse. Those kids aren’t damaged because of their dad, you are. Those kids have a mom who loves them and makes damn sure they aren’t damaged. You’re afraid to try, so you hide behind your dead husband.”

“How dare you be so callous?”

“How dare you use your husband to get out of trying again? You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and your life isn’t over.”

Buy the book:

Amazon Kindle | Nook | iBooks

More about Jeny:

Award-winning author, Jeny Heckman, was born in Bellingham, Washington, and was the youngest of two daughters. She met her husband, Jeff, in August 1992, and eloped three months later, at Magen’s Bay, on St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

She wrote her first book, the Catch, in a few short months but took several years before she gained the courage to self-publish it at her son’s urging, and her love for writing began.

In 2018, Jeny knew her next project would be a series that showed adults could have adventures in the paranormal-fantasy genre too. So, she created the Heaven & Earth series, a story of doomed Greek gods and their only salvation, their modern-day descendants. Her first book of the series, the Sea Archer, was immediately picked up by the New York publishing house, the Wild Rose Press, and won, “Best in Category” from the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

In the year 2020, Jeny released, Dancing Through Tears, a short story from the anthology, Australia Burns: Volume Two, highlighting the Route 91 massacre from the perspective of one family at the concert, and at Mandalay Bay. She also intends to release, the Warrior’s Progeny, and Dee’s Cornucopia, in 2020, continuing the Heaven & Earth Series.

Jeny lives in Washington State with her husband of over twenty-eight years.

Where to find her:

Website: https://jenyheckman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heckman.jeny

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenyheckman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenyheckman

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