NaNoWriMo 2009 - Week 2

Malevolent Dead is coming along nicely. At about 12,000 words I got stuck, but I fixed the problem and am moving ahead now. When I get stuck, it's usually because I am making my character do something that they don't want to do. And the pain is trying to figure out what that is and fix it. I'm a week behind, but that's okay. My goal is to finish this, and I don't care if it takes longer than NaNo to do it. Sarah is about to make her life way more complicated than it needs to be. Oh and did I mention that Marcellus, a vampire necromancer, is trying to kill her? So much going on! I'm sure you'll all love the finish product, and I'll post Chapter One of MD on my NaNo page as soon as I get a chance.

Currently 12,485/50,000 words
14 days left (would have been 19, but my computer free staycation starts on the 25th)

My November Events

I know, I know. This is about 10 days late. And if you read my blog post over at the Eternal Press blog, you'll know why (link below). I've also been working my tail off getting all that I can together for Promises to Keep. Making banners, working on my commercial, getting the layout for the bookmarks finished. Just like before, I'm waiting on a publication date and cover art. It'll be a little while before I get those things though, but I don't mind. I've got enough on my plate with Fade to Black and NaNoWriMo.

NOVEMBER EVENTS

Nov 4 - I'm guest blogging over at World of Paranormal. http://kaydenmcleodparanormal.blogspot.com

Nov 6 - Visit me at the Love Romances Cafe Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/

Nov 10 - Paranormal day over at the EP Blog. http://www.eternalpressauthors.blogspot.com/

Nov 11 - Visit me at the Amethyst Winters Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmethystWinters_and_Company/

Nov 21 - Visit me at the Talking Two Lips Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkingTwoLips/

Fade to Black is #2

Fade to Black is currently #2

on Fictionwise.com's Bestseller

list for Fantasy ebooks!

=^..^=

Promises to Keep

I got an email this morning from Eternal Press. Promises to Keep has been accepted for publication!

*squeel*

This is so exciting! I'm working on formatting my manuscript right now so that I can send everything back to them tonight. I think it should be out around April. Yay! Now I have to start working on promotional material for this as well as continuing to promote Fade to Black.


BTW: While set in the same world, P2K and F2B are two separate stories. I think Haven is the only place mentioned in both. Sorry if you wanted another Sarah fix. F2B's sequel, Malevolent Dead, is moving along very well though. It's my NaNo for this year. :o)

Visit me at World of Paranormal!

When writing Fade to Black, why did I choose Weres over vamps? Find the answer over at World of Paranormal; http://kaydenmcleodparanormal.blogspot.com/2009/11/welcome-heather-kuehl-and-fade-to-black.html

Fade to Black has finally gotten it's first review!

And it's a good one!

Read it here: http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/fade-to-black-by-heather-kuehl.html

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

NaNoWriMo begins

As I type this on my lappy, I am working on Malevolent Dead on my desktop puter. Malevolent Dead is my NaNoWriMo novel. I am on Chapter 4! YAY. So far.....3,800/50,000. I've got a ways to go, but today is only day one. And like they always say, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Sarah's already getting into trouble. Go figure. And the big bad is Marcellus. So excited about that. I'll post the first chapter on my NaNoWriMo page soon. You all should visit me: http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/141463


If you missed my interview on Book Chatter, never fear. You can listen to it again on their site. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Stacey-Cochran/2009/10/31/Book-Chatter We talked a lot about Sarah, who she was and what it was like to write her. We also discussed marketing. I had a blast on there and I hope to do it again soon.

Great News!

It looks like I will be on Book Chatter tomorrow night at 11pm EST!
Make sure to listen in to hear some juicy tidbits about Fade to Black.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Stacey-Cochran



It also looks like I will be on Page Readers sometime in December. Keep an eye out for more information!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Page-Readers

My Busy Day

It sounds like a children's book title, doesn't it?

My busy-ness from yesterday is bleeding over into today. It looks like I'm going to be spending the day either emailing Blog Talk Radio stations requesting interviews or calling bookstores requesting book signings. I had a couple of possibilities when calling yesterday, but the people I needed to talk to weren't in. I'm also trying to line up being a guest on several blogs. I have no idea what to talk about.

It dawns on me that I should have had all of this set up when Fade to Black first came out. And I have a variety of excuses of why I didn't. But I think I know the truth....I was overwhelmed. F2B is my first book. I have no agent setting things up for me and no idea on how to do it on my own. I've been stumbling around like a drunk, hoping that things will fall into place. Well, I've sobered up, done my homework, and is getting my shiznit together. I'm happy that it's not more than a month since F2B's release. If I waited any longer I may have missed my moment, if I haven't missed it already.

Wish me luck, and I'll keep you updated.

Is there something that I should be doing?

I dropped into the Eternal Press Readers Yahoo! Group today. Saw a lot of people posting links to reviews their books have gotten, and it made me rather jealous. Thus far, I have no reviews. I know my book has been sent out, but I haven't heard anything back yet. It makes me wonder. Does it suck that much? I've heard nothing but good things from family members that have read it, but c'mon! Their family. They aren't going to say, "Um Heather, your book blows." It also makes me wonder if reviewers have even gotten it (but I know that they have, because Jen's Book Talk has it listed as one of the e-books she has read this year).

We're in the process of trying to set up book signings. Every time we call or stop by a store the person we have to talk to is "out." It's frustrating. I don't want to do a signing at my work, but I think it may come down to that. I'll keep trying. I really really want to do a signing at All Books and Co.. They are my fave independent bookstore in Summerville. It's be a dream come true to do one there.

Fingers crossed!

My Zazzle Store

I now have a store up on Zazzle.com. It is there that you can buy your Fade to Black merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, stickers, and more. It's remarkably easy to create a Zazzle store, and if you don't have one you should!


www.zazzle.com/iryadragyn

Ethereal Tales Halloween Contest

The votes have been tallied.

The editors have spoken....

And there are two first place winners!

In first place for People's Choice......."Susan's Ghost!" *cheers*
and lets not forget to congratulate the other winner...."Death of a Vampire" by D.S. Scott!

Susan's Ghost

What would you do if you could see ghosts?










What would you do if one of the ghosts was your twin sister?










Vote for "Susan's Ghost" in the Ethereal Tales Halloween Contest to find out. If it wins, "Susan's Ghost" will be in the 2010 Halloween edition of Ethereal Tales.

Excerpt:

Tabitha Desdemona Drake hated October.

It wasn’t the shift in the muggy Charleston weather that got to her. It wasn’t the department stores going Halloween crazy, trying to make sure they had enough Halloween supplies for their customers. It wasn’t even the witch costumes. Having been born a witch herself, Tabitha Desdemona knew that those hags were just a product of a fearful human’s imagination. No, it was none of these things.

It was the ghosts.

From November through September, Tabitha Desdemona rarely saw a spirit. It was refreshing. But October… The closer it got to Halloween, the worse it got. Half of the time she didn’t know if the person she was speaking with was alive or dead. She would just hang in there, doing her best to ignore them until 11:59pm on October 31. Then, when the clock struck midnight, it was like they had never been there.

But this year was destined to be different.

It was Halloween, and the ghost was in her bedroom; a first. The ghost looked just like her, with blonde hair and striking cerulean eyes. Tabitha Desdemona stared for a minute, thinking that she was looking at her reflection until she could see her bed though the ghost’s transparent stomach. Then her heart lurched.

“Oh Susan…”

Susan.

Her twin sister.

Susan had died in April, the victim of a drunk driver. Tabitha Desdemona sat on the edge of her bed as Susan paced in what used to be their bedroom. Now it was hers.

“T.D., you’ve got to help me.”

T.D.. It was the nickname Susan had given to her when they were little. Tabitha Desdemona was a bit of a mouthful for a three year old.

“No. No. No.” The words slipped past T.D.’s lips as she hung her head, trying her best to ignore her sister.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Don’t you ignore me, sissy. This is important.”

“But you’re dead.”

“And you’re not. And I need a live person to do this for me.”

“I will not harvest human brains for you.”

Susan gave an exasperated sigh and swatted at T.D.’s shoulder. Her hand never made contact; instead travelling unfelt through T.D.’s shoulder. “I’m not a zombie you moron. Just a ghost.”

T.D. sighed. “What do you want me to do?” This would be the first time T.D. had ever asked a ghost what they wanted. She wondered briefly if it would be the last.


To vote for "Susan's Ghost" go here.

Malevolent Dead

For some reason, Googlesites doesn't like my Googlepages page. So, until I can fix it, my website is down...which is a total bummer. I really need to drop the money on my own URL.


Is anyone else having issues with Google sites converting their Google pages sites?

Now in Print!

For those of you that didn't want an e-book...

Fade to Black is now in print and avaliable at Amazon.com!

http://www.amazon.com/Fade-Black-Heather-Kuehl/dp/1926704770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255715322&sr=8-1

Promises to Keep

Remember how I was in the final stages of editing Promises to Keep? Well, silly me never backed it up and it was a casualty in the Great Puter Crash of 09. Good news; I still had to original draft saved on my mom's external hard drive and I had a notebook of hand written edits. Within the last couple of days I have gone through P2K, making corrections and backing it up and printing up the latest draft. And I can say, with a huge smile on my face, that this novella is almost ready to be submitted to various markets (the first being Eternal Press because they were awesome to work with). And while it isn't my best/favorite story, P2K will be my greatest accomplishment.

Why?

Synopsis: Starlette DeFore knows that her father is alive, even though her family buried him ten years ago. And when a faerie confirms this she travels to Charleston, South Carolina to hunt down Sivad Night, the only person to have ever escaped from the hands of a powerful sorceress, The Dark Lady Dreashae. With help from a witch they travel into the Myst, a fantasy realm filled with centaurs, dragons, and magic. Starlette is very close to finding her father, but first she must defeat Dreashae. Will Starlette, a mere mortal, have the strength needed to finish her quest and save her father?

When I was a naieve freshman in high school, I wrote the original draft of this story entitled The Quest to Twin Towers. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and submitted it to various literary agents. No one picked it up and years later, when I was participating in NaNoWriMo 2006, I knew why. The dialogue - not believable. The description - craptastic. TQ2TT was my first "novel" writing venture, and it bombed. But the plot...that had a lot of potential. So, in 2006, I sat down for NaNoWriMo and used the original draft of TQ2TT as an outline. Out came Promises to Keep, a 31,000 word novella (It was originally 53,000 words, but a lot of it was filler junk. You NaNo writers know what I mean). The characters are the same, I think two scenes are the same, but 99.3% of it was brand new.

With my editing, it's now down to 28,000 words. I cut out the elves (filler) and changed Dreashae from a faerie noble into a sorceress (her powers were just too similar to the sorcerers in my short stories). Instead of the Myst being a faerie kingdom separated into two courts, I have the Myst just the name of the fantasy realm that they are in. A lot has changed with this story in ten years. I now use TQ2TT as a way to show my how my writing has grown. And hell yeah, it has grown...

My one and only FAQ.

I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple of days how I can juggle writing with a job and child. And until now I never realized that I was juggling anything. I mean, I knew it was hard. But I never realized that this is a time in a lot of writers lives when they stop, not picking up a pen (so to say) again until the kiddo starts school. I’m a writer, first and full most. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I can’t imagine life without it. Yes, there are times when I will go months without writing a thing because life’s too damned hectic, but when I’m not writing I’m editing. I’m always doing something writing related. And when my son was born and life became more hectic, the fantasy world I wrote in became my getaway. When he goes down for a nap, I write. When he goes to bed for the night (and yes, I am well aware of how lucky I am that my son sleeps though the night), I write. The house may be a mess and laundry may need to be done but all that can wait when the muse strikes.

I just read through this and realized that I never included a very important factor; I still work part time. Yep, never quit my job.

Anyways, here’s a rough guesstimate of how my “off” days usually are: I wake up around 5am, when hubby leaves for work. I get most of my internet things out of the way (update Twitter, facebook, myspace, blog, etc.). Kiddo wakes up around 6:30. I feed and play with him until he goes down for a nap (usually around 11:30 or so). On lucky days, he sleeps 2 hour naps. On not so lucky days, 30 min. During that time, I either writer or edit (sometimes chores if they are way too backed up). After noon time is more feeding, more playing, and a couple of walks if the weather is nice. Then hubby gets home around 6 and the kiddo goes down for the night around 7.

Works days, I work 9-5. When I get home I play with the kiddo. No writing gets done on these days. Spending time with my little man is my priority.

Like I said earlier, I never realized that I was juggling, but I guess I am. I wear a lot of hats (full time writer, full time wife and mother, part time worker) but I couldn’t be happier with my life. Everything is fitting together quite nicely. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?

FADE TO BLACK - Today's the day!

When I was in sixth grade, I realized that I wanted to be a writer. Not just a writer, I wanted to be a published author. When I was in ninth grade I had my first story published in Wild Tales for Cool Kids writing contest. That was when I realized that I didn't just want to be a published author, shoved into an anthology with other authors. I wanted my own book. I wanted to know that when it sold, people bought it because they liked me.

And now, what feels like a bazillion years later, my dream has come true. FADE TO BLACK is released and I feel like I'm floating. Years of hard work and determination, sculpting the manuscript from a hunk of stone into an elegant piece of paranormal fiction, has finally paid off. I don't think it truly hit me until this morning, when I was looking at the Eternal Press main page. And now....I am a writer who's at a loss for words.

Thank you, Eternal Press, for making my dream come true. Thank you Ally, Lauren, Lisa, Candace, Sheryl, Ellen, Pamela, and the rest of the EP staff. Thank you Amanda for my beautiful cover art! And congrats to my fellow October authors; Maggie Dove, Mary Corrales, Roxanne Rhods, Teel James Glenn, Shelley Dayton, Graeme S. Houston, and A.J Ryan.

Later on this afternoon I will be posting the first chatper of FADE TO BLACK onhere. Then join me from 7-8pm EST tonight for the live author chat!(http://www.eternalpress.ca/LiveAuthorChats.html)

Heather Kuehl

Today's the day!

FADE TO BLACK is offically released!

Go here to buy your copy!
http://www.eternalpress.ca/fadetoblack.html

Join me tonight from 7-8pm EST in the Eternal Press chat room!
http://www.eternalpress.ca/LiveAuthorChats.html

Live Chat Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is release day! What does that mean? Well, it means:

1) FADE TO BLACK will be available to purchase from www.eternalpress.ca!
2) I will be posting excerpts at the EPReader's Yahoo! group
and last but not least,
3) From 7-8pm EST I will be doing a live author chat here: http://www.eternalpress.ca/LiveAuthorChats.html

Stop by, ask me some questions, or just chat! I'll be there....waiting.