Tag: books

Posted on

Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Magic: Why I Write Romcoms

When I first became a published poet, I never imagined I’d end up writing romantic comedies. But somehow, poetry led me to screenplay writing, and that led me to prose, and prose led me to falling head over heels… for writing stories about people who fall head over heels.

These days, my romcoms explore all kinds of love: contemporary stories grounded in real-life awkwardness and joy, and magical ones where enchantment sneaks into everyday life.

What do they all share?

✨ Swoonworthy heroes who make your heart skip.

✨ Feisty heroines who say what they mean and know how to kick some serious butt

✨ And love that shows up in the oddest circumstances: free round-the-world plane tickets, accidental double bookings, piglets leaping out of transport trucks, surprise leaps back in time.

I write romance with main characters in their late 20s to early 40s, because that’s when many of us are still figuring ourselves out. I want to remind readers that love doesn’t have a timeline.

Love just happens, usually when you least expect it, and more often than not, it arrives with a touch of comedy, like a wink from the universe.

And yes, there’s still poetry. I can’t help myself. It’s tucked into the rhythm of my sentences, the way my characters see the world, shaping my metaphors, the rhythm of my prose and the way my characters speak and feel.

But through it all, there’s been a constant magic: you.

To my WordPress family, my Goodreads friends, my Insta family, my Facebook readers, and the Threaders I chat with on a daily basis—thank you!

Your comments, reviews, DMs, email notes, and hugs (so glad we can do that again!) at book events make this writing life feel less like a job and more like a shared adventure.

You cheer me on when finding the right words feels tricky, and you celebrate with me when the characters finally kiss (or leap back in time!).

I write these books to make you laugh, swoon, and help you to believe that love can crash into your life in the oddest—and most wonderful—ways.

So if you’ve ever picked up The Ticket, Good Nights, Lauren from Last Night, Lucky, The Love Leap, or any of my other books, this is a hug from me to you.

With love and gratitude,

Heather 💖

Posted on

The Wealthy Writer: Fork Your Monsters!

“Wealthy Writer” –isn’t that an oxymoron? Bestselling Amazon author and working writer of 22 years Heather Grace Stewart doesn’t think so!

Hey guys. I’m here to teach you how to use discipline and creativity to become a paid writer, and hopefully with some hard work and training, a wealthy one. Subscribe to this site, and/or to my  YouTube channel so you don’t miss my weekly tips.

This week’s lesson is how you can get more writing done by telling your inner and outer critics, your past and present monsters, to Fork Off!

Posted on

Big Book Deals!

I wanted to mention to those of you who aren’t FB or Instagram users, and so wouldn’t have seen this: starting today two of my novels are on sale.

The Ticket is just $2.99 on Kindle until Friday night, and my first novel, Strangely, Incredibly Good, is going for just $10 as a paperback book at my publisher’s site. You can also grab it from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

The sequel to SIG, Remarkably Great, is already priced at $10 at Amazon. While you don’t need to read the sequel to SIG to enjoy SIG, it’s been reviewed as the “perfect conclusion” to the story, so if you’re buying the first one, it’s a good idea to grab #2 while Amazon has it priced so low.

Hope you enjoy these special prices, and above all, time with family and friends this holiday season.

More “on writing & publishing & marketing” on this blog soon!

Best wishes,
Heather

 

 

 

 

Posted on

It Never Goes Away.

I’ve been so excited this past week, I can barely eat, sleep, or —now this isn’t normal for me —write!  I know it’s because I’m artistically exhausted. I just completed the long and arduous task of putting together an anthology of poems titled Caged: New and Selected Poems.

Don’t get me wrong – the task was not without joy! It’s a unique arrangement of photographs and new and selected poems published over the last 25 years of my career, and it was created with the help of an amazing team, including editor Jennifer Bogart and book and cover designer Jo Clendening. Writing, taking the photos and even putting this anthology together—that was the fun part. Now comes the challenging part: getting it out there into the hands and hearts of poetry readers around the world.

It never goes away: that nervousness in the pit of your stomach the week before a book release. Will anyone want to read it? What if the reviews are horrible? And this one – this one will be familiar to many aspiring and long-time authors – What if this is the last good thing I ever write?

Experience has taught me that people do indeed want to read my works, and that sometimes some of the reviews are indeed horrible. I’ve learned not to pay much attention to those if they don’t offer me solid advice on becoming a better writer. I won’t let trolls or nastiness stop me from allowing my creative juices to flow. Creativity makes my life more colorful and meaningful. Besides, there have been many great reviews, and even a couple bestselling novels. I try to focus on those positive achievements, while still giving myself room to improve and grow as an artist. Tantrums happen with setbacks and frustrations (come on, I’m an artist!) but I finish those as fast as I can, and move along. Wayne Dyer once wrote “no one is going to ruin this Christmas, especially not me,” and I try to live my writing career like that. It’s a privilege to get to do what I do. I try to remember that every day.

I’ve also learned that as soon as I launch one book, if I take some time to chill and relax into all that’s creative within and around me, something new and beautiful always starts brewing. So far, each new project has been quite different. I like to think I’ll still be writing and taking photos at 88, but we’ll have to wait and see. The official count stays at 12 books and a digital screenplay —for now!

You can check out CAGED: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS on Kindle and on Amazon worldwide and Bn.com It’s available in three different formats, and ready to pre-order at a reduced price on Kindle until Nov. 10!  You can also pre-order the color hardback copy (it has already charted as the #3 Most Gifted Canadian Poetry Book on Amazon.ca! Wow! Thanks, lovely readers!)

The official launch date for the book is November 10, and that evening, you’ll find me on my Facebook Author page, doing a live video to say hello, raise a glass, and thank you for reading. Let’s say 830 EST. I may do an earlier one for my overseas pals if time permits that afternoon.

Copies of the color hardback edition of Caged arrived at our home this afternoon. And guess what? The goosebumps and elation you feel when you hold one of your publications in your hands for the first time? That never goes away, either.

Maybe, now, I can finally sleep.

love,

Heather

Posted on

Authors, Value Your Work!

Imagine if civil engineers worked for free. They’d probably do a shabby job, leave work at noon, and say, ‘oh well, you never paid me,’ whenever their bridges collapse.

As authors, we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to put a price tag on our hard work. Free and 0.99 cent deals are fine now and then, to help us promote ourselves when we’re getting started, or to find a new audience for an older work,  but it’s important to this industry that we remind readers, and often, that we are the bridge builders in literature.

Heather

imagine-if-bridgemakers-worked-for-free-authors-value-your-own-workimg_8531