​Whenever I’m asked about when I started writing, I have to reach far back into my childhood. As a kid, I wrote reports on dogs, cats, and horses, paraphrasing the World Book Encyclopedia articles and even tracing the pictures of the animals and their labeled body parts. I also dabbled in short stories, usually about dogs and horses and sometimes a kid or two who owned them. Even younger, I sat at my father’s manual typewriter and typed out the current weather report…by looking out the window as I typed!

Words have always been a huge part of my life and my fun. My dad taught me word games of all kinds to entertain me when I’d go with him on his customer calls. He was a professional photographer and when I wasn’t in school he’d take me along while he talked to his client about their pictures. He taught me about word play and having fun with language. My sisters taught me to read and do basic math before I even went to kindergarten, let alone first grade. Books have been a huge part of my life.

Over the years, I have worked as a clerk for a government agency, as a secretary in various corporations, as a freelance word processor, as a temporary employee, and then as a freelance technical editor and writer. The highlight of my tech editing/writing was working at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, editing real rocket science! Talk about a dream come true. The common thread I see is working with words, language, meeting the expectations of a variety of audiences.

All along I wrote fiction. Novels and short stories. It wasn’t until I was working on my master’s degree in English (graduated in 2008) that I had an opportunity to really focus on writing a novel. My thesis ended up being fact and fiction combined. I analyzed the supernatural elements in Edgar Alan Poe and Henry James’ stories then shared how I used them in my own paranormal romance. I was on my way to writing fiction full time, though it took me several more years to be able to walk away from tech editing to writing my books, which happened in 2012. That same year I released an updated edition of Hometown Heroines: True Stories of Bravery, Daring, and Adventure, a collection of short historical fiction/biography about girls from the 1800s (first released in 2001). Hometown Heroines was honored with a gold medal for Young Adult Fiction in 2015 by the Children’s Literary Classics organization.

My first paranormal romance, Traces, was released by Liquid Silver Books in April 2014, followed closely by Remnants in October. I also hybrid published the first two books in a historical romance series in October 2014: Emily’s Vow and Amy’s Choice. I learned that year to pace myself—especially after releasing three books in one month! Talk about chaotic. I hadn’t planned on doing so much in one month. Actually, I really hadn’t planned! Writing was still more of a hobby in my mind, but that year changed how I approached my new career path.

I got back the rights to my first two paranormals after two years with Liquid Silver and repackaged them to start a new series, Secrets of Roseville. I’ve published three in that series and am writing the fourth to release later in 2018. I have learned a lot by indie publishing my paranormals, including what I like about self-publishing and what I don’t. One thing I did learn is that if I’m going to continue on this career path, I need a plan and an inventory/accounting system.

Now I draft a business plan each year (December before each new year starts) and quarterly update it and the planned schedule of releases to reflect any changes in either priority or timing. I write most every week day, from 8 to 12, give or take. That’s my job, writing the stories I love to tell. Afternoons and weekends are time to run errands, exercise (I really need to get back into that!), play music or do crafts/sewing, spend time with family, travel for both research and pleasure. All the other activities that keep my imagination fueled and inspire me to write.
Speaking of history and research, one of these days I’d love to sit down with Diana Gabaldon over a glass of wine and talk about the research and sources she used to write her Outlander series. I love her stories! I met her briefly in 2013 at the book signing at the Historical Novel Society conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. She admired one of the swag stress balls I had on my table and came over to see it. I was so floored to be talking to her, I stuttered and stammered, but I did get a picture with her.
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I’m still working on fine tuning my accounting system to keep track of sales and book inventory, but my loving hubby is helping me sort it out. The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my writing career is to stay positive, focused, and flexible. But most important, I’ll keep writing as long as it is a fun challenge and not a chore.

​Elizabeth Sullivan feared for her brothers, fighting for freedom; her father, pretending to serve the king; but mostly Jedediah Thomson, doing his duty. She cherished every moment they had together, knowing it could quickly be taken away. Making her willing to risk everything to claim a piece of him forever….

I taught global climate change law and policy at University of Denver. Unfortunately, not enough people have understood the challenges of climate change. And the news media had it backwards for a long time. That’s why I decided it was better to take a different approach. There are very few people who read the scientific reports, more are likely to read novels. That's why I've written a thriller with a focus on climate change.

It’s been a huge challenge to move from teaching international climate law to becoming a fiction author. There are not so many emotions when you write law journal articles. I have been to many conferences and workshops to learn the writing craft. It's a completely different world.
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I’d like to meet Ian Brown and Le Carre (David Cornwell) to get some of their insights and for inspiration.

My thriller, The Dirty Network is in the final stage of publication at the Wild Rose Press – hopefully to be published by late summer. Waiting for a release date.

Author page: anitahalvorssen.com
FB: A.M.Halvorssen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amhalvor
The Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/authors
 I’m now working on the sequel to the Dirty Network. You can read about it here:  http://svalbardposten.no/english/anita-realized-that-it-was-not-enough-to-teach-climate-change-law-in-the-united-states/19.9708