Author Interview: Heidi Ruby Miller: A Lengthy Bibliography: Novels, Short Stories, Articles, Essays, Poetry

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Heidi Ruby Miller uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The multi-award winning writing guide Many Genres, One Craft, which she co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and was named #5 in The Writer magazine's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books of 2011.

In 2012, Heidi created the Dog Star Books science fiction imprint for Raw Dog Screaming Press and was the managing editor for the line for three years. Currently she is the Director of Professional Writing Relations for the Pennsylvania Literary Festival, an event she co-founded in 2014 with her husband, award-winning author Jason Jack Miller, and Matthew Dowling and David Slusarick, the producers of the GoingLIVE talk show on FCTV, where Heidi sometimes co-hosts.

Her formal memberships include The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters, and Science Fiction Poetry Association. She lives near Pittsburgh with her husband and a cat and is fond of high-heeled shoes, action movies, the smell of Chanel, Tiffany jewelry, and tea of any sort.

Your real name and pen name?

I'm actually Heidi Ruby Miller.

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Please share some of the best memories of your childhood.

Walt Disney World! One of my earliest memories is my mother being pregnant with my brother on out first trip to see the Mouse—I was three. Later I participated in the Disney College Program for six months, then my husband and I ditched grad school to work there right after we got married. My family still takes an annual trip to WDW, and there aren't even any kids among us. I often thank my parents for taking my brother and me on trips to various locations when we were young. It kept the travel bug in me alive. And, thankfully I married an adventurer like myself.

About your education.

My undergraduate degrees are in Anthropology and Geography with minors in Travel/Tourism and Foreign Languages from California University of Pennsylvania. I also have a state teaching certificate for Spanish and a graduate degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where I now teach.

Millers on set of Going Live_FCTV

What career did you plan during your education days?

In my high school yearbook, I said I wanted to be a romance novelist, yet somehow I only took one English class during my entire undergraduate career. The writing came much later.

What languages you can speak and write?

My native language is English. I used to teach Spanish and French, so I'm fluent in those as well, but am slowly falling out of practice with my speech—my reading skills are still sharp in both, however.

What hurts you most in this world?

Ignorance, hypocrisy, injustice, hatred, and cruelty—they all seem to go hand-in-hand.

What is your favorite genre and why?

Science fiction to fantasy to thrillers—it depends on my mood. Though, I usually include a speculative element within my work.

When did you start writing? What is the purpose of your writing?

I wrote "The Copper Kitty Mystery" in second grade for Highlights Magazine as part of a gifted project, and have been telling stories and making up worlds ever since. (By the way, the story was rejected, so the Copper Kitty still remains a mystery.)

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What of your work has been published so far? Would you like to share a synopsis of your work?

I have a lengthy bibliography at this point in my career, which includes novels, short stories, articles, essays, and poetry.

The far future world of the Ambasadora-verse is my biggest point of pride so far. The broad concept for this science fiction adventure series deals with a multi-partner, caste-ruled society where love and jealousy are considered emotional fallacies, nothing more than fleeting moods and sentiments biased by hormones. Relationships and conceptions in this world obsessed with celebrity, beauty, and power are based on DNA, lineages, and the all-powerful History...or they should be.

With large ensemble casts, massive settings spread over six planets, and deep plots, Greenshift and Marked by Light are just the first of many books I have mapped out for this world.

What are your forthcoming writings?

Starrie, another book in the Ambasadora-verse, should be released next year.

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What are your future plans?

My agent is currently working with me on a contemporary thriller series, and my husband and I are collaborating on an historical thriller series. And, of course, I've already started Book 2: Scarred by Light for the Ambasadora-verse.

How much real life goes into fiction writing?

About as much as daydreams and nightmares do.

Is a high level of imagination important to have for an author?

It is my driving force.

Your dream destination on Earth?

Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, Fiji, and Tokyo

Your origin of birth and other countries you have visited.

Both my husband and I were born here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, but we've traveled to 25 states and dozens of cities around the world. Culture and landscape are our two biggest reasons for travel, though food may be overtaking both soon.

Your favorite time of the day?

Morning

Your zodiac/ sunsign?

I'm totally an emotional cancer.

Your favorite color?

I love purples and blues, but I wear mostly blacks, greys, and whites.

Your favorite book and why?

I have about ten, and they are special to me because I found them during different parts of my life: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, 2010 by Arthur C. Clarke, Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk, Dune by Frank Herbert, Thunderhead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Inca Gold by Clive Cussler, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, The Revelations of Preston Black by Jason Jack Miller, World War Z by Max Brooks, and the series of G. I. Joe Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Your favorite celebrity and why?

My husband and I have our celebrity lists, which we each update from time to time. Right now, my favorites are David Boreanaz, Eddie McClintock, Matt Bomer, Jason Statham, Colin Farrell, Dwayne Johnson, Ben Browder, and Bruce Willis. The why has to do with my affinity for a thin upper lip and prominent eyebrows on men.