Posts

Posted on

Thank You Kingston, Ontario!

I’m back from a whirlwind 3-day trip to Kingston, Ontario. Such fun, and many great surprises!

I was a speaker at the Queen’s University Media & Journalism Conference (QMJC), and also had a fun ‘wine & chocolate’ celebration of my fourth collection, ‘Three Spaces,’ at Novel Idea Bookstore, and a book signing and reading of ‘Three Spaces’ and an excerpt from my upcoming novel, Strangely, Incredibly Good, at Chapters Kingston on Sunday.

CFRC Radio recorded the reading at Novel Idea, and may interview me, too, so I’ll let you all know when that’s going to be on air and streamed on their website.

I was thrilled to get a surprise visit from my former drama coach, who drove down from Ottawa to see me at Novel Idea, and a funny thing happened during question period at my workshop on being a published author: a student asked me to take part in a group selfie!

The resulting photo was not only a hoot, and retweeted a couple times, but it’s also going to be featured in my Queen’s Alumni Review article on my speaking experience at QMJC. The article will appear in the Spring 2014 issue.

Now that I’m home, it’s back to full time work every day, working on the edits of Strangely, Incredibly Good with my publisher, Morning Rain Publishing. Of course, I still have time to tweet, and maybe even a selfie once in a while. 🙂 The book comes out this Spring and I’m so excited to share it with you!

The Friends I’ve Never Met hit the top 10,000 books on Kindle (Amazon.ca), and hit a bestsellers list again: #92 in Women’s Fiction>Single Women this week. Top 10,000 (it was 7,000 something for a while) doesn’t sound that impressive, but when I learned there are over 2,430,648 books on the Canadian Kindle, I decided that’s an accomplishment. Getting read by even just a few of you when the market is flooded with ebooks like that is something to smile about.

So, thanks to all of you who are buying it, reviewing it, and sharing about it with your friends! I’m thrilled to learn you’re enjoying it. I loved writing it.

Best wishes,

Heather

1904120_746770905356638_850743723_n DSCN7428 DSCN7499 DSCN7503 DSCN7477

Posted on

The Friends I’ve Never Met: ‘Delightful’ Weekend Read

The Friends I’ve Never Met has reappeared on the Women’s Fiction> Action and Adventure Bestsellers list on Amazon.com!  Thanks for your fantastic support, readers!

If you haven’t decided if it’s worth a read yet, here are some of the reviews posted on Amazon.

RAVE REVIEWS

THE FRIENDS I’VE NEVER MET
4.8 out of 5 stars  5 reviews

Delightful!
By itsjustus – Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition  – What a delightful gem – I’m so glad I discovered this screenplay! The story is full of highly relatable characters, laugh-out-loud humor, touching emotional scenes, and even a fun plot twist I didn’t see coming.

The main character, Jessica, is a mom of three and a writer, just like I am; how could I not relate to that? An author’s life can indeed be lonely, so Jessica goes online to find support/companionship/advice/etc. Even though she hasn’t met her online friends in person, oftentimes they provide better moral support and camaraderie than the people she does see in person. When one of her online friends faces a personal tragedy, the group arranges a face-to-face meeting for the first time. The touching descriptions that follow are so heartfelt and superbly done. It’s also wonderful to witness Jessica coming out of her shell and truly expressing herself.

Overall, The Friends I’ve Never Met really resonated with me. It was an easy and entertaining read, and if you’ve never read a screenplay the way you would a novel, I highly recommend you start with this one – you’ll be glad you did!

5.0 out of 5 stars

When’s the movie coming out?

By S. Dean – Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
I loved this screenplay – well written, funny and intelligent. I think I would be first in line to see it on a big screen!

5.0 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t put it down!

By J. Kondraciuk – Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to say I was hesitant about reading a screenplay, but once I started to read it I just couldn’t put it down! I really liked how they helped each other during difficult times each character was going through. How they were there for one another. This is a very good, well written screenplay!

You can find THE FRIENDS I’VE NEVER MET on KINDLE as well as on Kobo, iBooks, Nook Books and Smashwords

What’s Next? This!

The place-holder for Strangely, Incredibly Good. Can't wait to create and reveal the cover!
The place-holder for Strangely, Incredibly Good. Can’t wait to create and reveal the cover!
Posted on

Take Ten Thursday: Social Networking in the Future

It’s Take Ten Thursday! For those of you who haven’t been following this blog in the last few weeks, I have started a series of Thursday posts meant to encourage you to take time out every day to write.

You don’t need more than ten minutes to get your creativity flowing. I hope you’ll write for more than ten minutes, but I’m trying to prove the point that, when we say, “I don’t have the time to start a book, a poem, or a short story, I have to work and then there’s driving the kids to xx activities, xx times,” we are selling ourselves short. Whether we think we are lacking creativity or that we’re the next E.L. James, we need to give ourselves those ten minutes a day to find out. Skip a shower if you have to! (I’m kidding. Sort of. There are waterproof note pads on the market. You could stick one on your shower wall. See? There are options to get those ten minutes in every day!)

Today, I’d like you to use this photo prompt and the words within the photo quoto to inspire your writing. Your story can be on the theme of Social Networking: In the Future,or you can simply write about a graveyard, or about the future. Just get some words down on paper or on your computer, and don’t over-edit. See what flows naturally. You can edit tomorrow.

I like to read these posts, so keep them coming, keep linking back to me, and posting the links here in the comments section. You can take until next Thursday to publish your piece – as long as you let me know where to find it, I will read and share them all as often as I can!

Happy writing,

Heather

neglected tombstone

Posted on

The Weight Loss Struggle (You Can Help Me With SIG!)

The main character in my upcoming novel, Strangely, Incredibly Good, struggles with her weight. This is a serious issue and I take it seriously in the book, but the book is also humorous, and I hope you’ll laugh over the situations the main character gets herself into as she struggles to exercise, lose pounds and feel better about herself.

I’m not sure many people know this except my family, but maintaining my weight has never been easy, and I struggled with it in my 20’s. At one point, in my late 20’s, I was 60 pounds overweight, so I know a little about what that feels like, emotionally.

For my novel, I researched what it might feel like to be even more overweight by reading a lot on the topic, surfing discussion forums, and speaking with different women. It was eye-opening for me.

One of the complaints my character  ‘Cat’ has is believing in weight loss programs and products or trends that are only in the business to make money, and don’t actually work. There’s a slimming spray out on the market right now that I thought sounded fantastic, until I read this fact:  “Energy is measured in calories. X Spray contains two calories per dose. That is not enough energy to stop the stomach from grumbling with hunger.”

For years, I was drinking Slim Fast for breakfast and lunch but it never filled me up. I ended up snacking more at the end of the day.

It took me years to stop being conned by all these ‘get thin fast’ techniques and to finally just discipline myself to eat healthier food, smaller portions, and cut out a lot of my sugar intake. I still struggle to eat right every day.

Please share some of your dieting ‘flops,’ if you will, what you learned, and if you’ve found success at keeping a healthy lifestyle, how did you do that? Let’s encourage each other!

The book doesn’t come out until June, and while it is written, it’s never completely finished until we hit ‘publish.’ I know it isn’t easy to discuss this issue, but I’d appreciate any comments you can make, if you feel you can. Your comments may provide me with even more insight to make this character’s struggle a realistic one.

Thanks!
HeatherVeggie Diet

“I hate you, fashion industry, with your tiny t-shirts that would only fit small, starving boys.”

~Cat Glamour  in Strangely, Incredibly Good

Posted on

Take Ten Thursday: A Snowy Scene

Take Ten Thursday: A Snowy Scene

Sorry I was late this week with #TTT ! You owe it to yourself to take some time -make it a Fifteen Minute Friday – to write today. Not one minute this Valentine’s Day? Then set aside some time this weekend. After you’ve written something, please let me know in the comments, and link back, so everyone can find your blog post!
Happy writing!