Heather Kindt's Blog, page 12

October 10, 2018

Local Authors Showcase

I just got back from being part of the local authors showcase at my local library. It was fantastic meeting other authors, hearing about their publishing process, and learning about their books. At the showcase there was an author who was a victim of sexual abuse and now fights sex trafficking. Another author was in the navy and spent three months at a time completely submerged under the water in a submarine. Listening to their stories was spell-binding.


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I shared my table with Janelle Cwik who wrote and interesting sounding book about traveling the world with her husband and living for today. That was by far my favorite part of the showcase–meeting and talking to new people. I look forward to doing more of these in the future.


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Thanks to my good friend Shelly for taking the pictures!

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Published on October 10, 2018 15:32

October 8, 2018

The Weaver is Coming

I’m excited to bring you The Weaver trilogy. You can go to Goodreads now and let others know you want to read it!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41109363-the-weaver


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Published on October 08, 2018 04:55

October 4, 2018

My Podcast Interview

Check out The Total Stickcast to hear my interview with Paul and Terry. A few weeks ago, it was a lot of fun chatting about my books, contests, and the crazy weather!  We talk about Ruby Slips and Poker Chips and my upcoming Weaver trilogy. Thanks again for hanging out with me!


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https://heatherkindtcom.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/1536906925.mp3
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Published on October 04, 2018 04:52

October 3, 2018

My Interview with Author Dan Alatorre (Part 2)

So, you’re pretty accomplished. What is the best advice you have for new writers?


Write every day


Get up earlier if you can’t find time to write. You won’t find it. It’s not lost in the couch cushions. You need to make time to write.


Use your writing time to write, not check email or watch YouTube.


Join a critique group. Helping others will advance your skills faster and you’ll see your own issues much more easily.


Finish what you start. Know what we call a person with ten stories started and none finished? Not a published author.


You are allowed to have early works. Don’t perfect a story forever, write it and then write the next one.


Good writing is a habit. So is bad writing. Learn, apply, move on. Don’t try to rewrite your last story. Stuff that bothers you won’t bother most readers, and you’ll do better next time.


You are a better writer than you think. Know this: I have writing contests on my blog DanAlatorre.com about 3-4 times a year. In those, I see lots and lots of stories, and they’re all pretty good. Most of the winners didn’t believe their stories were good enough to be published until they won my contest, and now they have strangers forking over good money to read words they wrote. One critique partner was * this close * to tossing her manuscript. I pushed her to keep going, and it became a runaway bestseller, selling over 20,000 copies in less than a year. Do not deprive the world of your masterpiece. It’s better than you think.


Learn to have confidence. See the prior info above for the reasons, but it’s mainly because if you are reading an interview like this, it’s because you want to learn – which means you want to improve, so you will. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t good already.


Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you get nervous when you present in front of others?


I don’t get nervous in front of a crowd, ever. When the curtain goes up and the cameras go on, I’m center stage like P. T. Barnum, and I’m going to give you a show. I once did an hourlong writing presentation with one slide of Hogwarts castle and almost no notes, and the attendees loved it – even though more than a few couldn’t tell you what it was about afterward. We had fun.


I am the top act at the circus, and I will dazzle you.


Years after you read one of my books, the characters will still be memorable to you, leaving an impression like few other authors will.


I learned at an early age, quite by accident, that it was easier to entertain a crowd than a handful of people, and I got good at it. When I’m onstage, I own the stage.


So you’d think I’m an extrovert. I’m not. I play a role and I do it well, but I’m just as happy doing a presentation to a hundred writers or five hundred salespeople and executives as I am staying in my office and writing all day, speaking to no one.


My wife once said I’m social and I do a great job of socializing when I try; I just don’t try very often. A critique partner who I did an internet show with said it was neat to see me in person when I was “off” – as in, being normal and not performing for the camera.


I enjoy both. I do what’s needed, and I do it well.


Which character from your books is most like you? Which character is least like you? And finally, which character is your favorite from the characters you have developed?


Sam from Poggibonsi is my favorite, hands down. She is a wild card, a say anything, do anything type, who is hard working and loyal and beautiful – but really outrageous and hilarious. She gets away with everything because she’s smart, and because she knows her stuff, but she also gets herself into all sorts of jams. I like her because she says all the witty stuff everybody else wishes they had said.


Second to her is Father Frank, from An Angel On Her Shoulder. Frank is a boisterous, big personality, and he can steal the scene like Sam can, but he’s also the wise old sage that helps our main character in Angel get onto the right path.


Aside from the Savvy Stories books, which are me, I am probably most like the characters in The Navigators. The father is me as a dad, the boyfriend is me as a young man, the bad guy is me at my worst, etc. J. K. Rowling said we put a little bit of ourselves into each character, and it make sense because you can’t write a convincing bad guy if you don’t have some bad guy in you.


Who am I least like? Maddie in Poggibonsi is not like me or anyone I know. She’s a real pill. Readers hate her. Findlay in The Navigators is a truly awful, petty guy, and even though I created him, on my worst day I hope I’m nothing like him. Readers are happy when he gets his comeuppance.


Readers have their own surprising faves, though, and often it’s a lesser player in the book. The cab driver in Poggi is a fan favorite, as is the vixen female lead in Poggi, Julietta. Others love Peeky from Navs. Dahlai, Tyree and Jimmy from Angel have been requested to get their own series from fans.


I love writing in my office, if you had your dream place to write, where would it be and why?


I am one of the blessed few who actually do write in my dream place. I have a beautiful home office that other authors would be (and are) completely jealous of. It has dark green walls and a rich mahogany desk and bookcases. I live in paradise – Florida – so I can go outside any time and watch palm trees swaying in the breeze. As if that wasn’t enough, I took my laptop to Italy and sat on a hillside in Tuscany and wrote there for a few weeks, too. Don’t hate me.


We couldn’t hate you, Dan.


You are an indie author. Have you ever tried to go through a traditional publisher? If so, what was that experience like?


I started in traditional. I found an agent and we started the process, having talks and deciding all the things, but when the deadline he set came and went (for him to read my book and lay out the next step), I didn’t hear anything. I called. I emailed. I texted. Nothing. A week passed, and he finally called and said he hadn’t read any of it yet, and he’d need six more weeks. I came from being a Fortune 500 company sales manager, where I went to President’s Circle. In that world, when you have deadline, you deliver or you get fired.


So he got fired.


I published my book and, after some help from a marketing friend, it became a bestseller. So did the sequel. And a bunch of other books I wrote.


But the indie world is different from Trad in a lot of ways. I said I had marketing help; without that, my book never sells more than five copies. And the book market changes all the time. What worked five years ago doesn’t work today, and you have to ask if you’d be happier learning the latest stuff in marketing or writing and letting your publisher do that stuff. Either way you have a lot of marketing to do as an author, but Trad publishers can help with important things like book covers and blurbs and marketing – in exchange for taking most of the royalties. Going Indie, you make more money on each sale, but you have to do all of that stuff yourself, and you have to be good at it. That’s a tall order.


Also, they are no longer mutually exclusive paths. Many top trad authors also put out indie books, and the top indie authors are always getting deals from the trad publishing houses.


I say try both and see which is best for you.


Ok, last question. You’ve helped me a ton in starting my writing career. What is the best part of mentoring new authors?


Seeing them succeed and knowing I played a small role in their success. I’m like a proud papa, and my author tree has so many branches now of people who I coached or mentored or worked with or critiqued for or edited or kicked around ideas with or worked with in an anthology, it gets bigger and better every year. They’ve all become friends, and that’s especially nice.


I love being able to take a new author who isn’t sure of their talent, and look at their work and be absolutely awed by it, and helping them go from hiding it in a drawer to sharing it with the world – and having the world say thank you.



Bio:


International bestselling author Dan Alatorre has published more than 22 titles in over a dozen languages.


You’ll find action-adventure in the sci-fi thriller The Navigators, a gripping paranormal roller coaster ride in An Angel On Her Shoulder, heartwarming and humorous anecdotes about parenting in the popular Savvy Stories series, an atypical romance story in Poggibonsi, and terrific comedy in Night Of The Colonoscopy: A Horror Story (Sort Of). Dan’s knack for surprising audiences and making you laugh or cry – or hang onto the edge of your seat – has been enjoyed by audiences around the world.


And you are guaranteed to get a page turner every time.


“That’s my style,” Dan says. “Grab you on page one and then send you on a roller coaster ride, regardless of the story or genre.”


Readers agree, making his string of #1 bestsellers popular across the globe.


His unique writing style can make you chuckle or shed tears—sometimes on the same page (or steam up the room if it’s one of his romances). Regardless of genre, his novels always contain unexpected twists and turns, and his endearing nonfiction stories will stay in your heart forever.


He has also written illustrated children’s book and cookbooks, as well as stories for young readers. 25 eBook Marketing Tips You Wish You Knew, co-authored by Dan, has been a valuable tool for upcoming writers of any age (it’s free but only available to subscribers of his newsletter) and his dedication to helping authors of any skill level is evident in his wildly popular blog “Dan Alatorre – AUTHOR” at http://www.DanAlatorre.com


Dan’s success is widespread and varied. In addition to being a bestselling author, he has achieved President’s Circle with two different Fortune 500 companies. Dan also mentors grade school children in his Young Authors Club and adults in his Private Critique Group, helping struggling authors find their voice and get published.


Dan resides in the Tampa, Florida area with his wife and daughter.


 


 

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Published on October 03, 2018 04:55

October 2, 2018

My Interview with Author Dan Alatorre (Part 1)

Best-selling author, Dan Alatorre sat down with me recently to chat about his writing and his advice for new authors. He holds a special place in my heart because he has helped me launch my writing career through his contest.


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I will include a link to his current contest at the bottom of this post. Now, sit back and enjoy Dan’s “been there, done that” wisdom.


When and how did you first start writing?


Technically, I always wrote. If you’d have asked me that ten years ago, I’d have said I didn’t, but looking back it’s obvious I did. I made comic books for my older brother and badgered the teacher at my grade school into starting a newspaper so I could write for it. I became co-editor of the high school paper. But I always wrote comics and short stories, and later I wrote skits for a Saturday Night Live-like show my high school friends and I would occasionally tape record. Before that, as kids, my younger brother and the kid next door recorded ourselves doing home made plays called Steve Clancey, an action adventure character.


Say what you want, but a comic book by a kid still has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It needs characters and a plot. One of my comic book series was Sam Parrot, Private Eye, about a detective bird, and a strange comedy series called Weird Corner that was inspired by macabre stuff I’d occasionally see in Mad Magazine and The Twilight Zone reruns on WXIX-19, a TV station we (barely) got that broadcast from Cincinnati.


So I always wrote stuff, and I often wrote funny stuff, but when I started posting little vignettes of Facebook about the adventures I had with my baby daughter, they quickly developed a following. I’d write a short story, post it, and go off to work. When I came home, there’d be a hundred comments from friends and friends-of-friends. Pretty soon they were asking me to write a book.


That lead to the Savvy Stories series, which was a big hit, but I wanted to write novels. My first one, An Angel On Her Shoulder, I wrote in about 41 days and it was 105,000 words long. That got trimmed because I sat on it while I wrote a few other books and learned about writing drama in novels. The Navigators was born because an author friend said I needed more tension in my stories, so I decided to write a story that was filled with tension. Navs was. It’s a gripping page turner. Readers can’t put it down. (What can I say? I’m a quick study.)


From what I learned writing The Navigators, and with input from a few critique partners I’d met along the way – who I still work with today, by the way – I reapplied myself to Angel, and turned a good story with a few interesting characters into a brilliant paranormal thriller readers love.



What is the best book you’ve written? Is it The Navigators? What is the worst book you’ve written?  (if you dare to answer that one)


Fans like The Navigators best, so who am I to argue? It’s a fast-paced sci fi thriller that keeps readers glued to their seats. I’m writing the much-demanded sequel now, to launch a whole series.


Hmm… least favorite. That’s tough! I enjoy them all or I wouldn’t have written them, so which is last in line of the love? Let’s look at the list of stuff I’ve published.



The Navigators
An Angel On Her Shoulder
Poggibonsi: An Italian Misadventure
Savvy Stories: funny things I learned from my daughter
The TERRIBLE Two’s: funny things I learned from my toddler daughter
The Long Cutie: funny things I learned from my preschool daughter
The Short Years
There’s No Such Thing As A Quick Trip To BuyMart
Night Of The Colonoscopy: A Horror Story (sort of)
Santa Maybe
A Day For Hope
The Zombunny
Zombunny 2: Night Of The Scary Creatures
Zombunny 3: Quest For Battle Space
Stinky Toe!
Laguna The Lonely Mermaid
The Adventures of Pinchy Crab and Ramon D’Escargot
The Princess and the Dolphin
All American Favorites: 35 Delicious Family Recipes That Will Make You The Star Of The Show
35 Great Recipes You Wish Your Mother Made
35 More AMAZING Recipes Your Mother Would be Proud Of!
25 Great eBook Marketing Tips You Need To Know!
The Box Under The Bed: an anthology of scary stories from 20 authors
A is for ACTION: Tips For Writing Amazing Action Scenes – A basic guide on why action scenes are different from other scenes, and ideas on how to write them.

Okay, so looking at that list, I guess there are a few contenders. The cookbook, All American Favorites, is a fine cookbook and worth its price, but I should have stayed focused on novels. Releasing that one delayed another novel, and it wasn’t worth it. The world wasn’t begging me for another cookbook, but we didn’t know it at the time. The marketing book 25 Great eBook Marketing Tips You Need To Know! was a great book when it was created a few years back, and a lot of the lessons there are still extremely relevant, but it was made for newsletter subscribers and not with the intention of being released to the general public or updated, so some things in there are dated. I’d update it and release it publicly as part of the S Is For Story series, though.


But that’s not what you wanna know. You want to know if there’s a novel I’d do differently today or not write.


Well, I’d still write them all, but I’d redo The Long Cutie because the Savvy Stories series is mostly lighthearted family fun, and that book has stories contributed by other authors that tell of their family tragedies regarding Long QT Syndrome. Those are terrific stories, interwoven by great stories about my daughter, but most people would probably do better skipping the tragic stories and just reading about me and my kid. When FOURthcoming comes out, the 4th book in the series, which is already written, then I’ll be okay with The Long Cutie because it won’t end the series on a down note.


What was the best part of writing books with your daughter, Savvy?


We all want our kids to exceed us in stuff, don’t we? So she writes terrific stories and loves doing it, and that’s just a blast. We sat down one day when she was four years old and she told me a story about a mermaid who had to learn how to make friends, so I typed it up and had an illustrator friend make the characters for us, and we published Laguna The Lonely Mermaid. It went straight to number 1. A four year old bestselling author! Not too shabby. A few years later, she and I were discussing creating a new monster for Halloween. She said we should write about zombies, but that seemed a little gory for second graders. What about something cute and cuddly but still monstery? She said like a zombie bunny? A zombunny? So I said sure – and what does this zombunny do? Well, she had a lot of ideas.


And The Zombunny series was born.


So it’s cool to see her learn and grow and struggle and overcome. It’s fun to hear her story ideas, or sneak a peek at one of her writing journals – of which she has about a thousand; I don’t know where that obsession comes from – and see her young mind at work. They are filled with rainbows and unicorns and happy little adventure stories.


The coolest part was when she said, unsolicited, that one day she wants to be an author like me.


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Published on October 02, 2018 16:14

September 30, 2018

Writing a Query Letter

How Do I Write a Query? Guest blog post by Heather Kindt
September 30, 2018


img_2351-14your humble host
The following is a guest blog post I wrote for my writer friend Dan Alatorre’s blog. Hopefully, my ideas and example are helpful to you. Let me know what has been successful in your query writing process.

From time to time on the blog, we’ll ask a friend to step up and share some insights into the writing process.

Heather Kindt, winner of the July 2018 Word Weaver Writing Contest, was recently signed by Parliament House Press, a publisher here in Florida. Part of the process of getting signed was writing a query letter, something most writers struggle with. I asked Heather to share her insights, so we can all benefit.



How Do I Write a Query?
A18N9kt38hL._UX250_author Heather Kindt

When I first got into writing, I was on my own. I didn’t know any other writers, so I relied heavily on the Internet. The story I had within me wanted to be shared with the world. But I didn’t know the steps I need to take to be published.


 


It was at this time that I found out about the world of agents and publishers and of synopsizes, manuscripts, and the dreaded query. The year was 2008.


I found out that I needed a query letter to get an agent, but I had no idea what it was or how to write one. That’s where my good friend the Internet came in. I scoured articles on how to write one and what a good one looked like. That’s when my query for The Weaver was born.


But what steps did I take to create it?



Write an introduction – The first few sentences should tell the agent or publisher that you are seeking representation or publication for your work. Tell them the genre and the length of the manuscript.
Hook the reader – Just like a blurb hooks a reader, you need to hook your reader here as well. Acquisition agents go through thousands of queries a year. If you don’t hook them from the get go, you will lose them. As you can see in my query below, I used one simple sentence: Most authors control the ending of their story, but most authors are not Weavers.

It’s to the point and gives you the main thrust of the story, but leaves mystery.
Why don’t Weavers control the ending of their stories?
Read on, I’ve got you hooked.

Body – The body needs to be just as good as your hook. This is where you give the meat of your book without giving away the ending. When I wrote the query for The Weaver, I wanted it to be light-hearted before it weaved its way into the paranormal side of the book. The first paragraph presents the least of Laney’s problems—the subject of her undying love is a character in the book she’s writing. The second paragraph presents her life-changing realization that life isn’t as normal as she hoped and that she’s a Weaver. The final paragraph nails down the main premise of the book. Laney finds out that her antagonist wants to change the ending of her story by killing the man she loves. Life’s just gotten a whole lot more complicated! End with a bang making them want to read your manuscript.
Credentials – You should end your query with your writing credentials, website, etc. This is also the point where you can give your call-to-action. Let them know that you look forward to hearing from them.

This query has been successful for me. Back in 2008, it prompted an agent to ask me for my full manuscript.
More recently, a publishing company also asked me for my full manuscript and I’m happy to say The Weaver will be published in the fall of 2019.

Let me know what you think. What successful elements have you included in a query? What questions do you have?


Query for The Weaver

I am seeking to publish my young adult fantasy novel THE WEAVER. The manuscript is complete at approximately 66,000 words and is the first book in a three book series. I believe it is a good fit for (insert publishing company).


Most authors control the ending of their story, but most authors are not Weavers.


William Clarke is perfect for Delaney Holden. He’s ambitious, smart, funny, and could easily pose for the cover of a magazine. The only problem for Delaney is that he’s completely unavailable. It isn’t a supermodel girlfriend that stands in the way of eternal bliss, but the pages of a book. Delaney is infatuated with a character in the historical fiction novel she’s writing, but at the moment, her imaginary boyfriend is the least of her concerns.


aa WeaverThe worries of the average girl in college revolve around making it into the right sorority, finding a hot guy to date, and keeping her credit card balance in check. Delaney has another worry to add to this list. When she is attacked in the subway by Jonas Webb, the scoundrel in her book, a family secret starts to unravel changing her ordinary college life into an unbelievable fantasy. She discovers that she is a Weaver.


Delaney’s ability as a Weaver bridges the narrow gap between imagination and reality, bringing her words to life. She is suspended between the reality of a teenage girl’s life and the fantasy of her writing. The two genres clash when Jonas reveals that he has a whole different ending planned for her book that involves killing the man she loves. Delaney finds herself in a situation where she must use her writing to save the people closest to her by weaving the most difficult words she will ever write.



bookcover0001307-Revised-2Heather Kindt is the author of the award-winning novel Ruby Slips and Poker Chips: The Modern Tale of Dorothy Gale. The first book in her Weaver trilogy will be released next year. She lives in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and two teenagers. Connect with Heather at www.heatherkindt.com.


Facebook: @rubyslipsauthor


Twitter:@hmkindt


Instagram: heatherkindtweaver


 


 



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Published on September 30, 2018 17:34

September 14, 2018

I’m on a podcast today!

Check out The Total Stickcast to hear my interview with Paul and Terry. It was a lot of fun chatting about my books, contests, and the crazy weather!  We talk about Ruby Slips and Poker Chips and my upcoming Weaver trilogy. Thanks again for hanging out with me!



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Published on September 14, 2018 04:55

September 12, 2018

The Weaver Trilogy is Coming

I’ve been working hard at editing The Weaver the first book in my Weaver Trilogy that is due out in 2019 through Parliament House Press. While I do this, I want to share little snippets with my readers. Here is the most recent one. Visit The Weaver’s Goodreads page to let others know you want to read it today: The Weaver



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Published on September 12, 2018 06:07

August 28, 2018