Adam Interviews...Heather G. harris!

Heather G. Harris is the kind of author who makes you feel like you’ve stepped into another world the moment you open one of her books. Whether you’re following a feisty private investigator navigating a supernatural realm or watching a werewolf alpha fight for her pack, Heather’s stories are packed with magic, mystery, and characters you can’t help but fall in love with. An Amazon Top 100 Best-Selling Author, Heather balances her vibrant writing career with life as a busy mum of three and caretaker of a willful Great Dane.

What makes Heather stand out is not just her ability to weave fantasy with fast-paced action, but her knack for creating characters that feel real—complete with flaws, growth, and a solid emotional core. And despite the intense action and the paranormal, she always keeps her promise of delivering a satisfying, swoon-worthy happily ever after.

In this interview, we dive into what inspires her unique take on urban fantasy, how she balances motherhood and writing, and what’s coming next from her enchanting universe. Let's get to know Heather a little better!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Star Trek! I grew up watching James T Kirk and I’ve never looked back.

DCU or MCU? MCU! I love how Marvel weave humour into their films and they are so good on emotional ties too. I laugh, I cry. Perfect.

Firefly – gone too soon or overrated? Way too soon. I’m still salty about it.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? This one is a complicated one. My mum was a writer but she never got published. I grew up thinking it was normal to write stories and I always wrote my own, until I became a lawyer and then I had less time to write. When my mum died, I found all of her old books and decided I’d like to publish them. I delved into the world of self publishing. I started writing again. To my surprise, my books did incredibly well and I was able to quit being a laywer and become a full time author instead! The rest, as they say, is history.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing? I usually drop the kids to school, walk the dog, then get stuck in writing from about 10.30am until 3pm when it is time to pick up the kids. Then I do the kids dinner time, bath and bed, and then after that I usually do a couple more hours writing or a few more hours on advertising and social media.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? In my books? I often have a little bit of time travel, that’s not especially usual in urban fantasy, but I love the chance to write over history.

When did you write your first book and how old were you? Oh gosh. It took me a while to actually write a complete story from start to finish, but my first was probably when I was 17 or 18. It was TERRIBLE.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Hang out with the kids, walk the dog, read (usually via audio these days!), and spend time with friends. But honestly, most of my free time is spent writing. I have to fit it in around family life so often when I get spare time, I’m working.

Is there a trope you find yourself going back to in multiple works? Or one you avoid? I absolutely adore a good enemies to lovers trope, if done well, and I love a character that has a really solid growth arc.

What does your family think of your writing? They love it, they’re super proud of me, especially since I moved from being a full time lawyer to being a full time author. Some people thought I was nuts to leave a presitigious career in law behind, but honestly, I’ve never been happier and my writing career has moved from strength to strength. A lot of my family read my books, and that’s one of the reasons you will never see a spicy sex scene in my books!

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite? I think I’m on 19 books now, with a few extra novellas thrown in too. My favourite is my witch series, which starts with Rune of the Witch. It features a forty-something ambitious witch called Amber. She’s a side character in one of my other series and she comes across as a bit abrasive in that series, so I loved peeling back her layers and showing the readers how much more there is to her. None of us are simple.

Do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they? Read in your genre, a lot. Know what your readers expect and want to see. Love the genre you write in. If you do all that, you’ll be okay.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say? Gosh all the time and I LOVE IT. My hell hounds are amazing. I get emails, presents, all kinds. I frequently get messages telling me I’ve helped them through difficult times in their life, and that is EVERYTHING to me. Nothing beats it. I used to think I’d help more people as a lawyer, but now I know I help more people with my fiction. Life can be tough and escapisim is much needed at times.

What do you think makes a good story? All of my stories are character driven. Get a good complicated character, and the story writes itself. Personally, I always love to see a growth arc. Stagnant characters drive me wild. As humans, we do learn and change as life progresses, the same should be true of fiction.

What are common traps for aspiring writers? Thinking that writing a book is all that it takes to be an author. Even if you want to be traditionally published, you’re still going to need to build a following. For me, mastering social media is a must.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? I do! I have young kids, and stalkers are a thing that happen to authors. Writing under a pen name was always a must for me, from a safety point of view. Heather is my real first name though. It’s always hilarious when you’re hanging out with author friends because most of us have two names, so you’re constantly saying, things like “I met up with Kate/Sandra and she said Julie/Christine…”

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want? Both. I love taking a trope or expectation and twisting it into something new and fresh. For example, unicorns in my world are red-eyed, with dinosaur-like clawed feet, and they’re meat eaters. My female alpha werewolf uses her pet unicorn to help with body disposal.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? Oh gosh! An absolute tonne of authors. Authoring can be very solitary, but building a good network around you is essential for your own well being. I am friends with lots of authors in my genre, like Helen Harper, Annabel Chase, Lauretta Hignett, Deborah Wilde and Debra Dunbar, to name just a few. We hang out on a zoom call every couple of weeks and we talk about relevant business topics, as well as every day life stuff!

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you building a body of work with connections? Both really! Each of my series are designed so that they can be read in isolation, but three of them are set in shared universe, with characters crossing over. For that reason, I have a recommended reading order on my website for maximal enjoyment. https://heathergharris.com/reading-order/ I also have another series, co-written with my good friend Jilleen Dolbeare, and that one is set in its own world.

What do you have coming next? I am working on my werewolf series at the moment. That features a female alpha werewolf, with a loyal beta romance, with plenty of mystery, humour and fast-paced action. The next book in the series, Resurgence of the Pack, is out 1st October, with the last one in the series coming out 1st November! If anyone wants to read that series, I recommend starting with Protection of the Pack, https://readerlinks.com/l/2226817 the first in series, or Glimmer of the Other, https://readerlinks.com/l/1928025  the first book in that Universe!

Here is an excerpt from my co-written series with Jilleen Dolbeare, The Vampire and the case of the Wayward Werewolf:

I was going to throttle Timmy when we found him. It was pissing down with rain and absolutely freezing. The cold didn’t bother me as much as it had when I was human, but wet was harder to ignore. My trousers were drenched, my hair was dripping, and water was dribbling down my neck; I was soaked to the skin and struggling not to feel grumpy about it.

I thought longingly of the London clubbing scene. I was as far from that as humanly – and inhumanly – possible. Never in a million years had I thought I’d end up in the bumfuck wilds of Alaska. But then, I never thought I’d be a vampire either.

I belatedly pulled up the hood of my borrowed coat. So much for my vaunted observational skills, with all the stress I’d even forgotten I had a hood.

I called the name of the missing lynx-shifter again and again until I was hoarse. If this kid was just having a nap somewhere, heads would roll. Unfortunately, though, he wasn’t the first to go missing; Timmy’s was the third disappearance in the last week and the atmosphere in the town was tense. I grimaced; we had to find Timmy.

After I’d walked what seemed like thirty miles in the woods in the pouring rain, Timmy leapt off a tree stump right at me. I let out an undignified screech and fell backwards into the mud. The lynx kitten landed on my stomach, driving out my breath in a whoosh. So much for my sharp vampire reflexes. Man, I was the worst vampire ever.

‘For fuck’s sake, Timmy!’ I yelled when I could speak again. ‘Don’t pounce on people!’ As my brain connected to my mouth, I winced. Timmy was five years old, so swearing was probably a no-go. Crap. I hoped I wouldn’t get fired from my new job before I’d even completed a full week.

The lynx scrambled off me and shifted into a small boy who was sitting naked in the mud. ‘For fuck’s sake,’ he said delightedly.

I winced. ‘Don’t use those words, little man. They’re only for adults.’

He grinned at me. ‘Fuck’s sake.’

I blew out a breath. I knew nothing about parenting; my own parents didn’t know much about it, either, which was why I’d been raised mostly by a nanny.

I utilised one of mum’s few parenting techniques: bribery. ‘I’ll give you chocolate if you stop saying the naughty words.’

Timmy tilted his head, considering, then held out his hand. ‘I don’t have it now,’ I explained.

 ‘For fuck’s sake,’ he muttered, folding his arms grumpily. 

Heaven help me.