When It's Least Expected Blog Tour: spotlight & interview

We are today's stop on the When It's Least Expected Blog Tour. This sweet contemporary YA is written by author Heather Van Fleet and we have our interview with her below. This tour is hosted by Sizzling PR. Enjoy!

When It's Least Expected (Perfect Timing #1) by Heather Van Fleet

Contemporary YA*Kindle Edition

Published April 23rd 2013 by No Boundaries Press

Moving on after a tragedy can be impossible – especially when you’ve been dealing with those tragedies for over two years. But it’s her senior year, and Harley Anderson is more than ready to do just that, even though the skeletons in her closet can’t exactly be hidden.

Enter Mason Daniel, the egotistical, sexy, surfer boy from California – a boy with his own hidden demons, and even bigger secret agenda. 

Mason isn’t right for Harley. He knows this better than anyone. He’s the epitome of a runner–a guy who takes what he can get, only to split a short while later. But he can’t deny the emotions that Harley brings out of him, so he’s going to break his rules for once. 

He should have known what it would lead to… Two kindred souls – both lost and then found. Will they fail, once again, in their search for contentment and happiness, or will they finally find true love, when it’s least expected? 

When did the writing bug hit you?
The writing bug actually didn’t hit me until I was in my later twenties to be honest. I’ve always loved to write, especially when I was a teenager. (poetry, short kiddo stories, etc) But the whole writing a novel idea was such a stretch, that I kind of shocked myself when I actually sat down to do it. I guess you could say what started out as a bucket list thing, ended up being a little something more.

Can you tell us about the experience of writing your first book?
Hmm, honestly? The whole writing part wasn’t that hard . . . at least not in the beginning. I have three little girls, so making the time to actually sit down to write was the biggest challenge for me. Another challenge was making my book actually readable to others, lol. And still, to this very day, I often times doubt my book baby, and my ability to write.

I also had to learn about head hopping, tense changes, pov’s . . . it was all quite overwhelming for a girl who had no idea what she was doing.

What about the creation of When It's Least Expected? How did the story come about? How long did it take to write? How long did it take to publish?
WILE honestly came to me out of the blue. Harley (my heroine) was the first character who just popped in my head. I wanted to write about a girl who’d gone through a lot in her life, and suffered from anxiety and depression a bit too. I suffered through it as a seventeen year old, and in a way Harley was me. And I was a tiny bit obsessed with surfer boys when I was a teenager too – especially blonde surfer boys with blue eyes. So yeah, that’s how Mason was born too. And my hubby is a twin too, and that’s how the idea of Harley and David came about. Simple enough, right?

I wrote WILE in six months and it was accepted right away to a small press. But then they shut down before it ever saw the light of day. Then I learned about querying. And I queried a LOT of places. I had more than my fair share of rejections before it found a home, and that was quite discouraging, but needed to make the process all the more real. It was all quite a stressful experience, but a big learning experience as well. Many tears, many late nights, many crabby days – but I did it, so to me that’s all that matters.

Do you have a favorite character? Favorite scene?
Yes . . . I’ll admit to the fact that I was fictionally in love with my own hero, lol. I loved Mason. He was snarky, and sexy, and he made me mad and frustrated me, but he had this voice and words that really spoke to me. He was all cocky on the outside, but deep and misunderstood on the inside. My favorite scene was actually a funeral scene to be honest. You’ll just have to read it to find out.

How would you describe your book to someone looking at books in a bookstore?
It’s a young adult book, about two emotionally lost and somewhat damaged teenagers who find one another when love is definitely not expected. (Hence the title)

Why did you settle on writing for young adults?
I have always been a fan of YA books and I’m a also huge believer in finding and falling into that forever kind of love at such a young age. Some people are so anti-young love, but that’s exactly what happened to me, so I guess you could say writing these books come from my own personal inspiration. Nothing beats teen angst either, lol

What do you have planned for this series?
The Perfect Timing Series will be a group of three books. Book two will be David, my heroine’s twin, and Abigail, my heroine’s best friend’s story. I’m almost done with it. And let me just say that their story completely ripped me to shreds. It will range halfway between a young adult book and a new adult book. Oh! And book three will be Maisy and Jake’s story. (Mason’s sister and his best friend)

Is it an exciting time to be a writer?
Absolutely. But it’s also been terrifying too. I am NOT a put myself out there kind of girl – I fear rejection way too much – so this has been an experience I won’t soon forget, that’s for sure.

What are you working on next?
Right now I’m working something new. It’s a mature young adult paranormal romance . . . with ghosts. Probably an overdone genre to some, but I write what I like to read.

If you could look at yourself in five to ten years, what would you see?
Oh boy . . . um . . . hopefully in ten years, I will be a full time writer. I also see my oldest daughter graduating and going off to college, my baby starting eighth grade and my middle baby becoming a Junior. Eep! Not a very happy set of thoughts.

About the Author:

Heather Van Fleet

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Heather Van Fleet currently resides in northern Illinois, with her three daughters, Kelsey, Emma, and Isabella, and her fabulous hubby (and high school sweetheart) Chris, with whom she’s been blissfully married to now for ten plus years. She’s a stay at home mom by day, and an avid and completely obsessive writer and reader by night.