The Debutante Ball Welcomes Alison Heller!

alison-hellerIt’s Saturday, which means it’s time to open up the dance floor to a Guest Deb! Today we welcome Alison Heller, author of THE LOVE WARS. Currently a divorce lawyer, Alison lives in New York with her husband and two young daughters. THE LOVE WARS is her first novel. Here is a little about the book:

Breaking up is hard to do. At least the first few times.

Even though Molly Grant has only a handful of relationships behind her, she’s already been through more divorces than she can count.

At the premier Manhattan law firm where she’s a matrimonial attorney, the hours are long, the bosses tyrannical, and the bonuses stratospheric. Her clients are rich, famous, and used to getting their way. Molly’s job—and primary concern in life—is to work as hard as possible to make sure they do. Until she meets the client who changes everything….

Fern Walker is the desperate former wife of a ruthless media mogul. Her powerful ex is slowly pushing her out of her young children’s lives, and she fears losing them forever. Molly—haunted by an incident from her own past—finds herself unable to walk away from Fern and sets out to help her. She just needs to do it without her bosses finding out.

Now, as complications both professional and personal stack up, Molly can only hope that her own wits, heart, and instincts are enough—both in and out of court.

Alison has offered to do a little Q&A with us this morning, so pull up a chair, curl up with your coffee, and join us in welcoming Alison to the Ball!

the-love-wars-cover

As an author have you ever been star struck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?

I met Susan Isaacs once briefly in upstate New York. I’m a huge fan of hers, but out of respect for the fact that she was on vacation with her family, I tried to play it cool. (Not really a strength of mine, playing it cool, but I think it went alright.)

Do you prefer to write during the day or during the night?

In an ideal world, I would wake up, have a lovely fortifying breakfast and, clean and alert, sit at the computer with a perfect music playlist. (All other noise would be obliterated through a cone of silence.) In reality, I write whenever I can, except late at night. I generally shut down at eight p.m., and to accomplish anything after that—writing or otherwise—I have to be pushed beyond my normal level of motivation (i.e., scared of missing a deadline or completely in the throes of the story.)

When becoming an author, did you have any speed bumps along the way?  If so, how did you overcome them?
Yes, for sure – perhaps the biggest speed bump to becoming an author was those thirteen years I focused solely on getting a law degree and being a lawyer.  (What was a I thinking?)  I’m kidding, of course (a little bit).  I still enjoy lawyering, but there’s something very satisfying about the creative outlet of writing.
Even after clearing away the space and time to write, there have been bumps along the way – rejections and self-doubt and frustrations with everything from the writing process to some industry practices.  Overcoming them, thus far, has been pretty simple.  I just listen to that little voice that wants to keep writing and continue, however slowly, over the speed bumps.

What 5 things do you have to have with you when you are writing?

Very pertinent question! I live in New York City where space is at a premium. My writing desk is the size of a postage stamp and in my bedroom, so I take to the streets a lot and before today might have answered this question by saying, just my computer. After today, when I sat at a coffee shop completely surrounded on all sides by vocal and enthusiastic Italian tourists (seriously, about 12 of them, all with shiny hair and lovely scarves), I revise. I need:

1. Background noise not to exceed 110 passionate decibels

2. My computer

3. My phone, to rest my fears that nothing is happening to one of my children while I’m absorbed writing

4. The Internet for quick research and breaks

5. Pants. I think I would be distracted otherwise.

What is next on your plate?
I have a book coming out through Penguin/NAL next year and I’m really excited about it.  And I’ve started drafting the next one after that.

Thanks so much for joining us, Alison!

Alison has offered to give away a copy of THE LOVE WARS to one lucky reader (US only)! Just tell us in the comments — have *you* ever had a tyrannical boss?

Visit Alison’s web site       Find Alison on Facebook        Follow Alison on Twitter

4 Replies to “The Debutante Ball Welcomes Alison Heller!”

  1. Two former female bosses were absolute backstabbing bullies. I thought often, how could they live with themselves. I give them five stars, meaning, run quickly in the opposite direction when you see them anywhere.

Comments are closed.