Posted on April 26, 2021 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Today we’re interviewing Heather Blanton.
Blanton is the independent bestselling author of several Christian westerns, including the "Romance in the Rockies" series which was recently optioned for a limited TV series.
A former journalist, she loves exploring the American West, especially ghost towns and museums. She has walked parts of the Oregon Trail, ridden horses through the Rockies, climbed to the top of Independence Rock, and even held an outlaw's note in her hand.
When she’s not exploring, she’s home handling her own outlaw gang: one husband, two sons, three dogs, and a passel of chickens and ducks.
SADYE: Which of your characters would you most and least like to trade places with?
HEATHER: I would be happy to trade places with either Naomi from A Lady in Defiance or Grace from Grace be a Lady.
Both these ladies marry handsome, wealthy, capable, kind men. But it’s mostly their ranches I’m after!
I would prefer not to trade places with Rose also from A Lady in Defiance because she is mean and skanky.
Oh, and she’s in prison now. That’s definitely a downer.
SADYE: Which of your characters would you most and least like to become romantically involved with?
HEATHER: My hero Charles McIntyre is one handsome rascal, and he has such a beautiful character arc.
He’s a complicated man trying to grow in his faith and walk the line between manliness and meekness while dealing with a very dark, troubled past.
He’s used to doing things his own way and surrendering his heart to a woman and a loving God has been a challenge.
The character I would not ever want to be with is Bull Hendrick. Man, he is one of my most powerfully written villains.
He’s a crook, a liar and an abuser. I couldn’t be married to him for five seconds without shooting him.
At least in the book, he sure got his comeuppance. I have to admit, I do like playing God.
SADYE: What have been the most surprising, rewarding, and challenging parts of your writing career?
HEATHER: To this day, I can’t get over readers who tell me my books have made them cry.
One reader even told me she was so invested in a book, she prayed for the characters! I just didn’t realize the power of the written word, or how attached to characters readers get.
In a certain book, I killed one of the main characters. Yikes! It will be a long time before I do that again!
I could see the pitchforks and torches from a mile away and the villagers were coming for me!
SADYE: What period of history would you most like to travel back to / what historical figure would you most like to meet, and why?
HEATHER: Everybody always says they’d like to travel back to Bible times and meet Jesus.
I have mixed emotions about that. He said blessed are those who didn’t see him and yet believed.
That in mind, I think I’d like to go back to the 1880s, perch in the window of Fly Photography and watch Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday handle things at the OK Corral.
Talk about an iconic moment in America’s Western history.
SADYE: What message or theme would you like readers to take away from your work?
HEATHER: All of my heroines either become or already are strong-willed and defiant. They’re defiant of defeat, depression, failure.
God is good. Life is good. There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.
But sometimes, you really have to fight to hang on to that perspective.
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Learn more about Heather Blanton on her website, where her books can also be purchased.
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Categories: Author Interview