Update and advice

I've been so busy lately getting ready for the Blood Moon Tour. Not only am I emailing blogs my posts, but I'm also still booking spots. I don't think the lineup will be final until the day the tour starts...which is on March 3 you lovely people. Two weeks away! Don't forget about the Blood Moon Scavenger Hunt that will being going on at the same time. What's better than fun and prizes? IMO, nothing!


Hrm, updates...

I finished Of Wolf and Man! *happy dances & throws confetti* I had just gotten through the hard scene when my computer crashed in 2009 and I lost a good chunk of it. Tells the story of Juliet and Jensen; Juliet discovers Jensen's dangerous secret and now a Clan of rouge werewolves wants her dead. It took alot to get me to sit down and write this, mainly because it was a lot of rewriting what I had already written before the crash. I'm happy it's done now, and I think it's much better now than it was originally.

"Dalamar's Quest" is currently in Bewildering Stories and can be viewed here. This is the first story I ever wrote about Amythist Dyier. Originally it had been accepted by Flashing Swords for publication in Feb 2008, but the magazine went under before it could come out. Major bummer, but hey it all worked out in the end!

"Apocalypse" is in the current issue of Aphelion's Webzine. Aphelion also has their Best of 2010 listed, and "Siren's Song" is on the list for best poem! Sweet!

My Uprinting giveaway is still going on. Go to my blog post that offers the giveaway and make sure to leave a comment. The contest ends on Tuesday!

I've already made a book trailer for Epiphany. It's up on my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/iryadragyn


Now for something fun! One of the authors on Decadent Publishing's yahoo group posted this link. It gives some no-no's when writing fiction (it's geared to YA, but the no-no's cross the genre gap). http://georgiamcbridebooks.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/newbie-writers-watch-out-for-these-big-writing-no-nos/

1) I've never done this. Luckily, I don't get carried away with backstory and such until later.

2) OMG I'm so guilty of having my main character notice the love interest's eyes first! I just did that in Of Wolf and Man! The reason I do this is because I believe that eyes are windows to the soul, and I want my MC to fall in love for who the person is, not what they look like.

3) I used to do this early on, like during my high school drafts of Promises to Keep. A new writer can't help it. You get this awesome idea, go with it, only to discover that you don't know the whole story yet. This is where outlining can become important.

4) I don't think I've done this, especially since I can't stand to have filler in my books.

5) If my first chapter starts mundane, it doesn't end that way. I have to make sure to keep my first chapters interesting.

6) I've don't overly focus on my first chapter. My goal is to get it out there, and once it's done to go back and fix what desperatly needs fixing.

7) Guilty! I won't catch it while I'm writing, but during edits I'll be like "Haven't I said this before?" That's what I get for staying up late and waking up early to write!

8) Again, I hate useless filler. Not only do I consider scenes to be filler, but characters as well. Hence the reason why T.D. Drake isn't in Fade to Black. I cut her out...but was able to shove her and that cut scene into Malevolent Dead...Yay me!

9) Please see 8 and 4. Filler = bad. Georgia McBride must feel the same way.

10) I always hate when I'm reading a book and the author has no clue what they're talking about. I mean, it's obvious they did no research at all. While I hate research, my readers will know if I pretend to know what I'm talking about. I do the work to give my readers a vividly true reading experience.

11) I've done this. It happens when I get tired or if I am having a bout of writer's block. I don't know what to do next, but I feel that the words NEED to be written.

12) Please see 4, 8, and 9. Yep, Georgia McBride does feel the same way. LoL

I've printed up this blog post and put up above my computer. It's something that all writers, not just newbies, need to remember.

And a new year has begun

Happy 2011 everyone! I hope you all had a fun and safe holiday. Just a day after 2011 began, one of my resolutions have already panned out. I had two goals for my son during 2011; to get him out of his crib and into a twin sized bed and to have him potty trained. Potty training is still in the distant future, he's already in his twin sized bed! *happy dance*

Last night I jumped back on the writing wagon (after having not written a word since November) and added 3k to my WIP, Gray Magic. Gray Magic was my NaNoWriMo 2010 novel, and after reading through it I discovered that it made very little sense. I've had to toss a lot of it, and try to make sense out of what I've decided to keep. I'm about 15k into my rewrite. I don't think the final product will be 50k, since I'm a chapter away from hitting a vital turning point before wrapping things up. My goal right now is 30k.


In other news...

Blood Moon is due to be released in two months!

Epiphany has been submitted to two other publishers. It's almost been a year since I submitted it to my first choice publisher. A year with no response leads me to believe that it's a rejection.

Congratulations to Ashley Verdi. She won a $25 Amazon gift card from my Bitten By Books contest back in September.

Vote for Malevolent Dead

It's that time again! You Gotta Read Videos has this month's contest open and Malevolent Dead's book trailer is entry #3. Please stop by http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/ to check out the trailers and cast your vote.

Voting ends Oct. 26.

Malevolent Dead is on YGR Videos

This month, Malevolent Dead is participating in You Gotta Read's Video contest. It is entry #3. I love participating in this contest; it gives me a chance to see other author's book trailers and make notes on how I can improve mine. Make sure you stop by and check it out:

http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to come back at the end of the month to vote for your favorite trailer. Voting will begin on the 21st and run through the 26th.

Vote for Fade to Black

You Gotta Read's September cover contest is now open. Please vote for Fade to Black. Fade to Black's cover is #4

http://yougottareadcovers.blogspot.com/

Malevolent Dead Tour - Summary

Well, the Malevolent Dead tour is over. Wasn't that fun? If you missed it, here's a list of the blogs I visited. If there are any contests still open they'll be listed at the end of this post.

The Roses of Prose
http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com/2010/09/saturday-spotlight-heather-kuehl.html

Love Romances and More
http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2010/09/talking-with-author-heather-kuehl.html

You Gotta Read
http://yougottareadguest.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-heather-kuehl.html

Literary Magic
http://www.literary-magic.com/2010/09/meet-heather-kuehl-author-of-fade-to.html

Immortyl Cafe
http://immortylcafe.blogspot.com/2010/09/at-round-table-with-heather-keuhl.html

Fang-tastic Books
http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/win-pdf-of-malevolent-dead-by-heather.html

Immortyl Revolution
http://immortylrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-with-author-heather-kuehl.html

Lisa Haselton's Blog
http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-with-paranormal-author.html

Annette Snyder's Blog
http://annettesnyder.blogspot.com/2010/09/heather-kuehl-shares-her-writing.html

Writing Space
http://writingspace.blogspot.com/2010/09/meet-heather-kuehl-author-of-malevolent.html

Bitten By Books
http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30347


OPEN CONTESTS!

Win a pdf of Malevolent Dead (Open until Sept 14)

http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/win-pdf-of-malevolent-dead-by-heather.html

Win 250 Die Cut Business Cards (Open until Sept 20)
http://heatherkuehl.blogspot.com/2010/09/giveaway-monday-win-250-die-cut.html

Bitten By Books Contest

I am the guest at Bitten By Books today. Stop by for a chance to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card! It's going to be an awesome event and I hope that you stop by.

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30347

Contest ends at 11:59pm on Sept 11.

Time to vote!

Tomorrow is August 1st. Not only will it be time for a new featured author, but it will also be the time to vote for FADE TO BLACK or PROMISES TO KEEP.

Voting starts tomorrow and ends on Aug 31 on D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters. Since my books were featured on there in July, you can now vote for your favorite cover, first line, last line, and best first chapter! To vote just go on First Chapters tomorrow morning and scroll down to where it says CONTEST! Polls open at 12:02am EST on Aug 1.

FADE TO BLACK

PROMISES TO KEEP

Vote tomorrow for your favorite one!

Updates!

I didn't say this before, but July was my vacation from promotion. Since October I've been doing nothing but updating websites, writing guest blogs, and promotion the wazoo out of myself. I've earned many new readers from all that hard work, but I really really needed a break and with MALEVOLENT DEAD's release just around the corner (SEPTEMBER 7th!) I knew that break had to happen now.

Well, July is almost over and things are already starting to pick up again. I have an interview on Poetic Monthly at 6:30pm EST on August 3, a live chat at Romance Junkies at 9pm EST on August 4, and blurb party the week of August 8th. My MALEVOLENT DEAD tour is quickly forming, and the growing list of events can be found here.

And speaking of MALEVOLENT DEAD, the full first chapter can be found on MD's page. I've also updated my Zazzle store with new merchandise, including Team Jared and Team Damian tshirts as well as MD bumper stickers and magnets.

I was notified today that, thanks to a contest I entered at Fang-tastic Books, I won 100 postcards from Uprinting.com. I love free promo things and I love Fang-tastic Books!

I also added a countdown on both my website and this blog. Only 41 days until MD's release. 41 days until you can see what happens next with Sarah Vargas. Don't worry; it'll be here before you know it.