Interview with Heidi Ruby Miller, author of Ambassadora and Greenshift

Heidi, was kind enough a few months ago, to send me a copy of her book, Ambasadora. It was an amazing read, and certainly opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of authors out there that we just haven't heard about yet. I would love to be able to help ever growing authors to become more recognized, and seeing as I had this blog, I thought, hey, why not see if we can get some interviews done. My way, a small way, of showing my appreciation for what they did for me. So this is what this is. An interview with the wonderful and beautiful author of Ambassadora, Heidi Miller.

Heidi Ruby Miller believes the relationship is as important as the adventure. She loves high-heeled shoes, action movies, Chanel, loud music, and video games. Heidi also teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The writing guide Many Genres, One Craft, which she co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and her novel Ambasadora was her thesis there.

Heidi is a member of The Authors Guild, Pennwriters, Broad Universe, SFR Brigade, and Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA).
She lives near Pittsburgh with her writer husband, Jason Jack Miller. You can read her author interview series at http://heidirubymiller.blogspot.com.

The Interview:

1) What inspired you to become a writer, and then to create and write Ambasadora? 
I've been writing as a hobby since middle school, but finally took it seriously when I enrolled in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction graduate program. Ambasadora was my thesis novel there.

2) What was your greatest muse for the novel itself? 
Daydreams. I daydream constantly, which makes staying within the world of my books pretty easy. Also I was influenced by movies like The Fifth Element and TV shows like Farscape and Firefly.

3) Did you base any of the characters around yourself, or around people you know? 
All of my characters are part of me, whether directly how I view myself, how I'd like others to view me, or how I'm afraid I could somehow turn out. Not to say I'm prone to their actions or even their viewpoints, but I draw from my own schema to form them into well-rounded individuals.

4) What was the hardest part about writing a novel and getting it published? 
Worrying about how it would be accepted by readers and critiques. That's part of the process where you have no control because, as I'm fond to say, we all like what we like.

5) What advice would you give to those who also dream of becoming a published author one day? 
Write what you want to read and write first thing every day. I always keep those two simple concepts front and center in my mind, and it works well for me.

6) Would you like to see your book come alive as a movie? 
I would love that, but it would also make me nervous because that means placing my characters, my world, into some other creator's hands, and that can be both beautiful and risky.

7) If you could make one of the characters real, which one and why? Who is your favorite character? 
Right now I'm in a David kind of mood after having finished Greenshift, but I'd happily come face to face with Sean, too. Overall, Sean is probably my favorite, but he's rather intense. David is a close second because in my mind he's the perfect man.

8) What was your biggest method of support when writing?
My husband, writer Jason Jack Miller, has always been my greatest support in all areas of my life. He and I undertook this artistic journey together, and we're still each other's biggest fans. But we're also very honest and critical as first readers because we want to push the other to do his or her best work. I'm lucky to have Jason. He understands the highs and lows of the writing business because he's a part of it.

9) What do you feel makes your novel stand out from others?
I believe the world of the Ambasadora-verse is unique and captivating because it's familiar enough to our own to be accessible and recognizable, but alien enough to inspire awe and provide the reader with a new perspective. It took me six years of world-building, and I add to it with each book. I swear it really exists out there somewhere beyond our solar system.

10) Do you intend on producing a series of books based around Ambasadora?
I have three more books outlined for the main arc, and several stand-alone tales like Greenshift plotted out—most of those involve David's brothers. The wonderful convenience of having such a huge universe is that you can drop in on any character's story whenever you like. I plan to take advantage of that. Fragger: Book 2 of Ambasadora, should be out in June 2012.

My review of Ambassadora can be found here: Ambasadora , by Heidi Ruby Miller

I have learnt so much from Heidi's interview and I hope that you have too. It has certainly inspired me to continue with my own novel, because even if it never gets published, the main factor is that it's something I like, and is something that I can be proud of.  Heidi is a wonderful author who I look forward to following, and I am most excited to read Greenshift.

GIVEAWAY!!!

Heidi has stated that she would hold a giveaway of one copy of Ambasadora as an Ebook, and Greenshift as an Ebook, to two lucky commentors on my blog. So if this is something your interested, drop a comment. Ill keep the giveaway open for one week!!!

I would like to take this time to thank Heidi for her genorisity, but also her time for participating in this interview and also the giveaway. Thank you so much Heidi, I look forward to more chats with you in the future.