Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Welcome, Heidi Main!

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I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, Heidi Main. She writes for Love Inspired. I met Heidi at a writing retreat almost 2 years ago. If I’m not mistaken her book was due to come out soon and I had just sent my full in to the editor and was in waiting mode to see if they wanted to buy the book. (They did!)

Heidi is a fabulous author of small town romance. She was gracious enough to answer some questions, so let’s get to know Heidi.

1. What is your first memory of wanting to write romantic fiction?
Well, my first couple of unpublished books were women’s fiction with an element of romance.
At a writer’s conference, I was not having success getting editors interested (one said, “I already have a women’s fiction author in my stable and I don’t need another one”). After that comment, I spoke with Susan May Warren and she took a pen and paper, drew a circle (telling me this pie represents all fiction), she then drew a small piece of the pie and told me that was women’s fiction. She then tapped the other 90% of the pie and said, “this is romance.” I looked at her and said, “I want to write romance.”
So I wouldn’t say I craved writing romance, but in reality I read a lot of romance and am unsure
why I was writing women’s fiction at first. I wrote a couple more novels, but as the rejections
piled up, I decided it would be best to focus on a specific publisher, and I always loved the sweet
romances that Love Inspired produced.

2. Share a bit about your journey to your first published book.
At the very beginning of the process, I prayed God would not allow my works to be published
until they were ready. I think that daily prayer taught me patience during the many years it took
before I received “the call.” The second important part of my journey was the hard lesson to read the line I was interested in. In 2019, I received another rejection from Love Inspired. Though it was disappointing, the conversation I had with my agent gave me an aha moment—I read lots of different types of books but had never read the LI books with an eye for what editors might be looking for. Right then, I decided to exclusively read Love Inspired novels. I also tore them apart to figure out what the authors were doing in those short 225 pages. The next book I submitted to Love Inspired, they accepted!

3. What is your favorite part regarding the writing process? And tell us about yours.
Micro and macro edits! My bachelor’s degree is in computer science, so I think my mind is more
analytical than creative. Getting a novel plotted and the first draft on paper is like pulling teeth.
But once I have something to work with, I’m golden. I especially enjoy macro edits from an
editor. I know my story inside out, so it’s fun to take input from a professional and implement
changes that make a huge impact on the final product.

4. Tell us about your current release.
A Family for the Orphans released in December ’23. Here’s a little bit about the story:
Tragedy turned Walker McCaw from bachelor cowboy to guardian of his late best friend’s three children. Now they’re living on a new horse farm—and it’s a disaster. Trisha Campbell’s arrival couldn’t come at a better time. Together, they’ll need to work to save the struggling farm. But it takes more than hard work to make a family. It takes courage and love…

A Family for the Orphans was a delight to write because it takes place on a horse farm, which
was fun because growing up I rode horses. And a fun fact about this novel is that it landed on the Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller List, and I couldn’t have been more excited! Lindi here: Congratulations!

5. What’s coming up for you in 2024?
I have another Love Inspired novel releasing on 8/20/24, Her Loyal Companion. A bit about this
K-9 Companions novel:
Training service dogs is Autumn McCaw’s passion. She won’t let anything jeopardize her
business’s chance of success, including her former love Wyatt Nelson. But with a looming
deadline to prove herself capable, she has no choice but to hire the one man who hurt her years
ago. Relying on the single dad is tough—especially since he has trust issues of his own. But can
Autumn and Wyatt overcome their past to save her business…and open their hearts to love?

Oh–a K-9 Companion novel–I love reading those!

Heidi–thank you so much for visiting Inspy Romance today.  Let’s welcome Heidi in the comments and we’ll be giving away 2 copies of Heidi’s current release. (Us only.) (Comment by Friday Jan 19th at midnight to be entered in the giveaway.)  And you know we have questions–so, we’d love to know what is your favorite part about finding a new author to read, and/or what draws you to read a book by an author for the first time!

Lindi Peterson (114 Posts)

USA Today featured author Lindi Peterson lives in north Georgia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with her husband and a lively array of cats, dogs and birds. She loves sharing life with her family and friends. Her passion for reading led her to writing, and then God spoke words of love into her heart and changed her life forever.


Comments

  1. A book’s description or starting to like a new to me author on social media will draw me to a new to me author’s book.

  4. Happy Monday Lindi and Heidi from frigid Mitten State – Michigan. As a retiree, who has been on this site for over a decade with 150 book reading goal, I explore new authors by author or newsletter recommendation, then if the cover / title catches my attention, and finally by reading the blurb. Price is also a factor – free to $3 range. I have a $25 monthly book budget. Another factor is how many books are already on my to read pile or how many ARCs I committed to.

    Heidi as a retired high school English teacher, I enjoyed your explanation how to get published: I read lots of different types of books but had never read the LI books with an eye for what editors might be looking for. Right then, I decided to exclusively read Love Inspired novels. I also tore them apart to figure out what the authors were doing in those short 225 pages. A Family for the Orphans sounds inspiring. Best wishes. Stay warm and safe. Happy Writing.

  5. Welcome Heidi, I am glad your faith, tenacity and willingness to investigate how the system works resulted in your dream coming true of being a published author.
    Usually a recommendation from a friend or the blurb/description will interest me in a new author.
    If they have a free book I can download to give me an idea of their writing style that’s useful however not always accurate if they have worked to hone their craft. Thanks for the interesting post.

  6. Welcome Heidi!
    I am drawn first by the cover and then by the description of the book. I get excited if I enjoy reading the author’s book and want to read more of their books!

  7. Good morning and welcome Heidi, I am drawn to the cover first, the title and then the excerpt. I like hearing about the author also and their love of writing and what inspired them to write the book. Your book sounds like a great read and I love the book cover it is so very sweet. Have a great day and a great week.

  9. I love this interview. Thanks for being open and sharing. I felt this way when I started to quilt. At the time, there were a lot of do’s and don’ts. I was having a hard time with learning the process and was ready to give up. When I met a fellow Boy Scout mother. She quilted and was so enjoying it. She had been doing it for years. I asked her about some of my questions. She invited me to her house when we could spend more time together. Well we spend all day talking and playing with fabric, etc… Wow I learned so much and in the next few years was able to put it all into action and add my own spin on some things. She was such an angel to help me. Now I pass this on to who ever wants to learn. Right now I have a friend who wants to start quilting. But not just the normal piecing. Ohhh I love to do Foundation Piecing, so I gave her some patterns and paper and lots of ideas. We will be getting Together when it warms up some.

  10. I’ve read this book of Heidi’s and I LOVED it!!! I actually won a signed copy from her!!! So great to have you interview her here!!!

  13. Renate—I love how much you read. :) So inspiring! I know you’ll love Heidi’s books.

  18. Lori–thank you for sharing. I learn so much better by being with someone and watching them do it.

  29. The titles, and animals/kids on the cover really catch my eye but reading the blurb is the final decision for me. I love meeting new to me authors and their books through social media and other authors’ newsletters too.

  30. The cover is what grabs me. Then I will read the blurb, because sometimes the cover isn’t exactly what the book is about.

  32. Thank you so much, Heidi, for being here. It is always wonderful to be with you. God bless you.

  33. It is exciting to find new authors and I think that is why I love reading anthologies so much. Anthologies give you a good way to learn if you like an author’s writing style. I have also discovered more on blogs and on FB.

  34. I find a lot of new to me authors by recommendations from authors that I already like. I love finding new authors, though my TBR pile gets awfully high at times.

  38. Cherie—So true!! That’s a great point regarding discovering new authors. :) Thank you for sharing.

  40. Plus, I’m keeping up with all the books I read this year through Goodreads…I’ve never stuck with it before, but praying I do this year.

  42. Linda–I’m with you. I just found a new thriller author on Audible–I’m loving her books!

  43. Hi Heidi! I love your name! It’s my dear aunt’s name so I always love to see it! ❤️
    Seeing an author I already like share about a book always makes me want to read it, plus I know the authors I read only recommend Christian and/or clean books so I don’t have to do the deep dive into the reviews like I would if I stumbled onto the book some other way.

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