Bethany Lopez: Five Questions with Amy Harmon

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Five Questions with Amy Harmon

Interview with Amy Harmon - author of Running Barefoot, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and coming March 29, 2013, A Different Blue.

When you think of your favorite books, what is it that draws you to them and makes you want to read them over and over again?

When I was a girl, I loved Anne of Green Gables. I felt so connected to her, like I was her. When I read the Twilight series, I felt a connection with Bella Swan. I think that was the magic of that series. How many of us are awkward, unattractive (at least in our own eyes) and lonely? Stephenie Meyers tapped into that universal feeling, and made her main character very relatable. That connection with the characters is what makes me fall in love with a book, and it is what I work so hard at creating when I write. I want characters that feel absolutely real. The highest compliment I've been paid is that many people think my book, Running Barefoot, is a memoir.

Did you consciously decide to write the genre you write, or did it choose you?

It doesn't seem to matter what I read or watch for that matter. But if it doesn't have romance, I'm pretty much not interested. For instance, I watched a movie the other day starring Jennifer Lopez and Jason Statham. Two of the hottest people on the planet, seriously. And they didn't fall in love!! He had another love interest in the movie! I felt so cheated when I left the theater. Big mistake, Mr. Screenwriter. Huge! I felt mournful for days. What a missed opportunity! I'm sorry, did I just go off on a tangent? What I meant to say is, I can write paranormal, mystery, drama, comedy, but it has to have romance. It has to. If it doesn't, I'm not interested. Did I already say that?

If you could sit down for a drink and a chat with any writer, who would it be, and why?

Considering the tangent I just went off on in the last question, this might come as a surprise, but I am crazy about Dean Koontz. I don't love Sci-Fi, and some of his earlier stuff is not very appealing to me, but he writes with such sheer beauty and mastery that I find myself crying in his stories. To be able to make someone cry in a Sci-Fi book...well, that's brilliance. One of my favorite books is From the Corner of His Eye. Even the title is genius. And the book is mind-boggling. Yep. Dean Koontz, hands down.

When you are not writing (or reading) what is your favorite past-time?

I love to sing. I have been singing for as long as I've been writing, and actually spent many years writing song lyrics. I released a gospel CD in 2007 called What I Know. It was absolutely the most fun I've ever had. If I could produce CDs and write books and never have to worry about selling either, I'd be the happiest woman on the planet. I also love to dance, but my children inform me that I shouldn't dance. Ever. So I do. Often. Especially in front of their friends.

At what point were you sure that your book was ready to be published, and how did you go about making it happen?

I wrote my first book about five years ago, just because I wanted to. I didn't know what I would ever do with it, but I wanted to write. Then, a year and a half ago, my oldest son got very sick. We were in desperate straits, and I knew I needed to do something to take my mind off of the helplessness I felt in the face of his illness as well as help my family financially. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for a publishing house. I discovered the world of self-publishing, and I said to myself "I can do that." And I have. Four times now. It's been a wild ride, and I plan on staying on this merry go-round forever. I absolutely love everything about it.