Heather B. Moore's Blog, page 15
February 3, 2012
Congrats to the 2011 Whitney Finalists!
The Whitney Award Finalists have been announced! Check out the list of finalists.
If you are an LDS author and would like to be part of the voting academy to choose the winner contact: whitneyawards (at) gmail (dot) com
February 1, 2012
Reviewers Needed: Christ's Gifts to Women
February is finally here, which means only one month until the release of Christ's Gifts to Women. I'm very excited to offer this book to reviewers. When Angela Eschler contacted me Fall 2010 and asked if I was interested in co-authoring with her, I was very honored. But I didn't want to commit unless I felt that I could be a contributor and the project would be something I was passionate about.
When I read Angela's introduction, I knew it would be a perfect fit. We submitted the book in November 2010, and it will be 16 months from submission to the time it hits stores. When you get the book in the mail, you'll understand why. The book is a work of art. Literally. There are 25 paintings/illustrations throughout the 37-page gift book.
Just to give you a flavor of the text . . . in The Gift of Mercy chapter, in discussing the New Testament story of the woman taken in adultery, we learn that after all the accusers have left, "Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst" (John 8:9).
We can compare this to our lives: "The implications of this detail are thought-provoking. Like our sister who was left alone, we stand in our daily courtrooms with no one but Christ. In spite of the many self-appointed juries in our mortal sphere who may heap harsh judgments upon us, we too are 'left alone' with the only Judge who matters. And He is a merciful judge. He, our only legitimate accuser, does not condemn" (Christ's Gifts to Women, 2).
You can also see sample pages on Deseret Book's website.
I'm currently seeking 15 reviewers who are willing to read a copy (will be mailing beginning of March) and take the time to also post a review.
If you are interested, please email me: heather (at) hbmoore (dot) com
I'll send you the details once I get your email.
January 17, 2012
Reviewers needed: OLIVIA
Yes, I'm looking for reviewers for Julie Wright's book OLIVIA, because she is my co-author in The Newport Ladies Book Club series.
But this request is a bit different. I'd actually like to find 10-15 reviewers who are willing to review the WHOLE series. Every three months, a different book will be released. So I'll send you each book as it comes out.
Books will be:
OLIVIA by Julie Wright (Feb 2012)
DAISY by Josi S. Kilpack (May 2012)
PAIGE by Annette Lyon (Summer 2012)
ATHENA by Heather Moore (Fall/Winter)
For more information on this unique series, visit The Newport Ladies Book Club blog.
Reviews need to be posted on your blog and review sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Deseretbook.com, Seagullbook.com, etc. (it's really easy to cut & paste once the review is written).
Please let me know if you are interested, and I'll send you more details.
heather @ hbmoore (dot) com
January 11, 2012
Cover Reveal: Daughters of Jared
I'm excited to post the cover for my upcoming novel, Daughters of Jared. Release date: May 2012.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Daughters of Jared
From the Book of Ether comes a haunting story of two royal sisters. The elder sister, Ash, will do anything to bring her father, King Jared II, back to the throne. The younger sister, Naiva, only wants to save her family from destruction. Greed and the quest for power blend together in H.B. Moore's volatile new novel, Daughters of Jared. The bond of sisterhood becomes precariously fragile when one man . . . named Akish . . . falls in love with the younger sister, Naiva. Yet he chooses to marry the elder sister.
The sisters' hearts are divided. And when Ash becomes queen, seduced by the promise of power and wealth, Naiva watches her world crumble away. She sees only one way out. But it will require forsaking all that she holds dear.
January 9, 2012
Serialization of Women of the Book of Mormon
Meridian Magazine is doing a serialization of some chapters from Women of the Book of Mormon.
You can read the first chapter, on Sariah, here.
Also, in other news, Land of Inheritance (Whitney Award Winner, 2007), is now in paperback!
My editing company is hosting another LIVE CRITIQUE workshop on March 3, 2012. More details are on the PEG Workshop blog. Instructors include Lu Ann Staheli, Annette Lyon, Josi Kilpack & Julie Wright.
January 6, 2012
Submission letter for Adam and Eve
Below I've posted my submission letter for my latest manuscript: Adam & Eve. It will give you an idea of the submission process.
January 6, 2012
Dear [Editor],
I'm pleased to submit my new historical novel, In the Beginning: Adam & Eve, complete at 82,000 words.
Many questions have been asked and speculated upon pertaining to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and what may have transpired in the Garden of Eden. Answers are difficult to come by, but in all my research I have sensed one thing more clearly than any other. Eve made an informed and intelligent choice. Does this mean that she and Adam understood all the ramifications of eating the forbidden fruit? Perhaps not all, but enough that she knew the choice had to be made in order to bring about the human race.
In Women of the Old Testament, Camille Fronk Olson quotes Deborah Sawyer, saying, "Let us put to death the Eve of patriarchal fantasy, and raise up in her stead the Eve who, created in the image of God, takes responsibility for human progress, liberates herself and her husband from the playground of paradise and engages with the real world" (13).
It is with this objective in mind that I re-created the story of Adam and Eve in fictional form, with the intent to bring to light the true nature of Eve and her choice in the garden—a choice which became the second most significant event in humanity, second only to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
I would also encourage the evaluators to read the Preface, it will explain some turns of plot that take place in the first 100 pages. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Heather Moore
December 20, 2011
First Cover of Newport Ladies Book Club series
Christmas has come early!
Here is the fantastic cover of Olivia, book one in the Newport Ladies Book Club series. This is a series I am co-authoring with Julie Wright, Annette Lyon, and Josi Kilpack. One book will come out each quarter. Olivia will be out first, in February, 2012. It has been an incredible journey, with a lot of hard work. The four of us will be teaching a class about co-authoring at the 2012 LDS Storymakers Conference.
More details about the series are on the Newport Ladies Book Club blog.
December 12, 2011
December updates
*Registration is now open for the 2012 LDS Storymakers Conference. It's a great conference and there are several agents and editors coming. It will be held at the Provo Marriott. The conference will also be followed by the Whitney Award Gala. If you've read any great novels by LDS author this year, be sure to nominate them at the Whitney Award website. The book doesn't have to be LDS in nature, just written by an LDS author.
Upcoming Releases:
February
*I'm really excited to start talking about The Newport Ladies Book Club series. This is a co-author project that I worked on with Julie Wright, Josi Kilpack, and Annette Lyon. The first book in the series: Olivia (by Julie Wright) will be out February 2012. More details are on the Newport Ladies Book Club blog.
March
*Next month I'll be compiling a list of reviewers for Christ's Gifts to Women. This is a short, non-fiction gift book that I've co-written with Angela Eschler. The release date is March 2012. So watch for the blog where I'll send out review guidelines.
May
*I've finished edits for Daughters of Jared, a historical novel that will be out May 2012. It still have to go through design and final copyedits and proofreading, but the bulk of the work (on my end) is done.
Articles:
*This month I had an article published on Mary, Mother of Christ in YourLDSNeighborhood newsletter. You can read it on YourLDSblog.
*Later this month, a chapter from Women of the Book of Mormon will be serialized in Meridian Magazine. I'll post the link on my Facebook page when it comes out.
Work in Progress:
I'm doing revisions on my new historical novel, Adam and Eve, which I hope to submit at the end of this week if all goes well. Then, hopefully, I can ditch the computer and face the Christmas shopping crowds.
October 12, 2011
U-turns . . . Literally
The editors coming happened to also be my co-writers for The Newport Ladies Book Club series, which includes Josi Kilpack, Julie Wright & Annette Lyon. So we were extra excited about not only getting together at a great writers conference, but to have the chance to go through some of our joint scenes.
Since it was a long drive, and Julie Wright would be passing my general location, we decided to carpool together. After about a 2 hour delay due to traffic and the now infamous Utah construction, Julie arrived, limping up to my doorstep. Because if you don't know, Julie tore her ACL. This began a weekend of me trying to do everything for Julie, and Julie telling me she was fine.
Despite the fact that it was pouring rain and a Friday afternoon, we cruised up to Logan. Well, almost to Logan. I knew we must be getting close to the Brigham City turnoff, but the freeway signs were announcing upcoming destinations for Pocatello (which is NOT in Utah at all).
I had a sinking feeling that I'd done it again . . . even with Julie driving. My kids know that when mom drives, we do a lot of U-turns. A freeway exit was coming up, and we decided to take it and call the direction-trusty Josi Kilpack. Who, by the way, Julie and I decided to blame because she was originally going to have us pick her up too. But since we were so late, she went on ahead. We could have definitely found her house without trouble (maybe).
The good news was that we'd taken an exit where there was an alternate canyon road leading to Logan. The bad news was the Julie was starving (she refused to eat the granola bars I brought, she said something about wanting real food. Granola bars are considered real food in my house . . .).
Josi also told us that our alternate choice of driving was a very pretty drive.
You can judge for yourself:
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Not so pretty, Josi.
But I was just relieved to see this sign:
It meant that we were truly going in the right direction.
We met Josi and Annette Lyon for dinner at some delicious Mexican place (that met with Julie's approval for real food) with a very strange name. Julie hobbled to the table, and I offered to help her again, but she refused (stubborn woman).
After dinner, we left for our hotel, specifically asking Josi for directions. Just in case Josi was watching us leave, we purposely turned the wrong direction. But all was well. I mean, you can't get lost in the city of Logan, right? We made it to the hotel, and I bullied Julie into letting me do (most) the work.
Finally settled, we got some writing done and then I discovered that the Award Banquet, which I thought was the next night, had just concluded. I wondered how AMMON had fared, but I didn't know who was at the banquet to call/text. We took off to a place that Marion Jensen promised had great desserts (they were average, but I didn't really expect Marion to be a dessert connoisseur).
Upon returning to the hotel, I discovered that my book, AMMON, had won the Golden Quill award. And I had been upstairs in my room (writing, so that's not too horrible).
This picture was taken the next night, when the award was slipped to me:
So that was pretty exciting. I had forced Julie to stay with me at dinner because the second night, they were presenting the "writing" awards and I'd entered my YA ms, The Burning. Well, the category came, and I received 1st Honorable Mention. Julie started screaming and clapping like crazy. I tried to shush her, but her enthusiasm wasn't to be deterred. I found out that she thought I'd received "1st place" not "1st honorable mention." Well, as least I had one fan.
My fan club:
Fortunately, on the way home from the conference, there were no U-turns, although there were a couple moments of uncertainty of whether we took the right exit, and a moment of extreme pain for Julie on the way out of the hotel (my advice: get the surgery!).
September 27, 2011
Cover Reveal: Christ's Gifts to Women
I'm extremely excited to post the cover of Christ's Gifts to Women. Like all books, this one has been in the making for awhile, almost exactly a year to the day, I was first approached by Angela Eschler about co-writing this book. It will be released March 2012. I wish I could show you the interior. It is probably the most gorgeous interiors I have seen. There are 25 paintings inside.
Below, I've included a rundown of the project and how it all came to be:
On September 25, 2010, Angela Eschler emailed me about a project she'd been working on for awhile. She'd already pitched it to her publisher (which was also my publisher), but because she'd had a baby and was running a home business, she was having a hard time completing the project.
I had great respect for Angela, and we'd actually worked together on one of my books before—she was my editor for a short time—but I had recently turned down other co-author projects because they weren't a good fit for me. So I wanted to make sure it was a project I could be passionate about and not do it because I was flattered by the invitation.
I agreed to look at what Angela had done so far, and by the time I finished reading it, I knew 2 things. I could help her, and I was excited about the project. The focus was on the women who knew and/or interacted with Christ during His lifetime and had received special gifts from Him. Then the book would answer the questions of how those gifts can be embraced by women today.
We decided to organize the book into two portions. Angela focused on the Intro and the first two chapters, and I focused on the last three chapters. The book wouldn't be long, only about 35 pages of text. We foresaw it as a gift book for women, something that would make a good Mother's Day book.
The New Testament "year" was just around the corner as well. We thought it was probably too late to make an early 2011 release, even though the book was short, and even though the publisher was expecting the full manuscript soon. And of course we didn't want to wait until 2015 (the next NT year). The solution we came up with was that it didn't need a "New Testament year" push, but would focus on the women who knew Christ (who happen to be in the New Testament), and how their experiences could be applied to ours.
Right away, Angela and I started working on our chapters, trading emails and quotes back and forth. We worked together pretty quickly, and I was surprised that I did have some things to say about my assigned "gifts." We finished the first working draft in October and sent to three readers to gain feedback. Overall, we were told the book was a great concept, and we just had to work out some of the nitty gritty details.
By the first of November, we were happy with our manuscript. We put together a cover letter explaining the book concept (of illustrations, singling out certain quotes, and how this book can now be a general release).
Below is the general outline of the book's process (slow but steady):
November 2: Submitted to publisher, Covenant Communications
January 18: Committee requested revisions before contract can be offered
January 26: Submitted request to the LDS Church's Intellectual Property Reserve for permission to use Church General Authority quotes
February 3: Submitted revision
March 24: Official acceptance; release date assigned: March 2012 (one whole year away!)
June: Final editing/copy editing with publisher
July 12: Permissions to quote Church General Authorities granted
September 27, 2011: Cover finished; interior ready for final proof
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