Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
The characters I write come from inside my head, so I guess in some ways they’re intrinsically part of me. I don’t think there’s any one specific character I feel represents me as an individual, but I do feel like they’re a mix of all the people I encounter in my life, just morphed and moulded into a character who’s entertaining and hopefully relatable.
What did you do in your former life before becoming an author?
I was a unicorn trainer. It wasn’t very lucrative.
Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)??
I have lots of strange habits. I don’t even know where to begin. Sometimes I’ll write an entire chapter while listening to the same song. I’m not so sure that’s as strange as it is irritating for the people who live in my house. I obsessively check social media to procrastinate. I always have to have something to drink while I’m writing and I adore Diet Pepsi even though I’ll probably embalm myself with overconsumption. I have eleventy-million pens and I can’t stop buying more.
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Which other writers inspire you?
That’s a long list. Debra Anastasia, Tijan, Shannon Lumetta (you’ll get to read her soon), Emma Chase, Alice Clayton, EL James, Stephanie Meyer, Melissa Marr, JR Ward, Belle Aurora, Colleen Hoover, Tarynn Fisher, Anne Marie MacDonald, Karen Marie Moning.
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Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
As much as can, which isn’t as much as I’d like to. The list of authors above is a good start on favourites.
Helena Hunting's BIO
Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's putting her English degree to good use by writing popular fiction. She is the author of Clipped Wings, her debut novel, and Inked Armor.
And our bonus questions,
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What inspired you to start writing?
I used to write stories as a little kid. We’d go to the cottage for the summer and we had all of two TV channels up there, so when it was raining I’d write little stories. As I grew up I started typing them on an old school typewriter, in my teen years I wrote angsty poetry. In University I studied literature and thought—accurately—I’ll never write like this. I’m no lit fic’er and I’ll never win a Pultizer, but I love what I write and that’s what’s important. After the birth of my daughter I read the Twilight series and it rekindled my love of writing which had taken a backseat since university. Over the past seven years I’ve become part of an amazing community of authors and decided to take the leap into professional writing.
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Since Alex is a hockey player, what kind of research went into Pucked?
My husband has always played hockey, or he has for as long as I’ve known him. I used to go to his games when we were dating and sit with all the other girlfriends. We were young with little in the way of responsibilities and it was fun. If I had technical questions I asked the hubs and he could usually provide the answer. Watching games goes a long way ;)
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Is Alex based on a real person?
Haha. No. I mean, some of the zingers are things my husband says that make me laugh. Sometimes I write them down and tell him I’m putting them in a book. I think Alex is fun because he’s alpha, and sexy, but sometimes he’s super awkward and that’s realistic. We don’t always have the right words, or have the perfect thing to say. Relationships aren’t always smooth and neither are guys, I wanted Alex to reflect that.
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Have you personally experienced a MC 😜?
I plead the fifth. Seriously, though, it’s mostly a joke. No fantasy is ever comprised of “average” or “slightly-below average.”
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