Heather Sutherlin's Blog, page 7

Seen Gets a Facelift

Yesterday Seen, the first book in the Wanderer Series, got a beautiful new cover from Author/Designer Donna Dull. What do you think?

There’s more coming up for Wanderer Fans! Next month Seen will become an audiobook through ACX. The sequel, Wandering, will get an updated cover, and the series will have it’s own page on my website. Finally, we’ll be adding all new graphic designs to our Swag Shop so that you can share The Wanderer with your friends.

Whew! What a Summer!

What an amazing summer! Last night we stumbled in from a long weekend at the beach with my family and I’m telling you – we were exhausted!  This morning as I sipped my coffee in relative tranquility I thought back over the last few months and could hardly believe all that has happened. Here are a few highlights:

June

I attended my first EVER writers’ conference: The Arkansas Writers’ Conference. I even managed to win a few prizes for a short story or two.
I had my first EVER book signing event in Nashville, TN and got to meet some amazing YA authors and a few fabulous fans.
I went to UTOPYA! It’s a conference for “women who write paranormal YA books and the fans who love them.” This was epic and I already have my tickets for next year’s stellar event. Can. NOT. Wait!

My very first book signing!

July

Traveled to Colorado on what turned out to be a grand adventure and spent the better part of a week working on the characters for my new book series. 
Went to camp for a week and met some of the most incredible teens you could ever know. A powerful reminder that many of our young people carry terribly heavy burdens on their beautiful shoulders.
Spoke at the Arkansas Reading Association‘s annual leadership conference. Let me tell you, these girls ROCK! Love them!
Record sales month! I nearly cried when the numbers passed the mark it would normally take me three months to reach. Amazing!

Arkansas Reading Association’s
Leadership Conference 2013

August

Family vacation into the Smokey Mountains left me breathless. It was so relaxing and stunningly beautiful. I spent the week writing on book three of my Light Series just because it wouldn’t leave me alone.
Came home and started our 5th year homeschooling and this year I have a freshman in high school. Wow!
Invited to be part of the writing team for a local 48 hour Film Project team. We went from brainstorming to finished film in less than 48 hours and our film is already creating some local buzz. What an incredible experience!
Quick weekend trip to Gulf Shores with my entire family. It was amazing!

Writers on the set!
LR 48 Hour Film Project

So, now that my crazy amazing busy summer is over… What next? Well, here’s what I’m working on this fall:

Finish writing book three in The Light Series, The Light Within.
Begin work on the audio versions of The Light Series and The Wanderer Series.
Possible book signings and conference appearances

(Watch my Events page for more details!)
Finish up a contemporary romance story just in time for Christmas.

How about you? Was your summer incredible? What fabulous plans do you have for the fall? I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to while I was away.

Happy writing!

Heather

The Wanderer Series Blog Tour

While I’m on vacation, the girls over at Girls Heart Books have been working hard to share the Wanderer Series with the world. They’ve wrestled secrets out of me like who I’d put in the Wanderer Series dream cast, what songs I listened to while writing the books, and even what inspired me to write the series. Curious? You can find all the answers and a lot more in the Wanderer Series Blog Tour. Have fun!

UtopYAn Reads

We’re having a blast at UtopYAcon this weekend, meeting some of my favorite indie authors and learning tips to writing fabulous books! To celebrate, we put some of our books on sale just for YOU! Hurry, this sale only lasts for one more day.

Here are some handy links to help you get started:

Seen on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes

A Light in the Darkness on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes

 

 

Cover Reveal: Mangled Hearts

Release Date: July 12, 2013

Francesca and Cade

Can two loves find their way back to each other despite an addiction and a hardened heart? Will their love overcome it all?

Francesca Taymon is young, successful, and broken. A tragic accident years ago haunts her to this day, and she blames only one person–the one that holds her heart. When she finally gets her first case, will she be able to handle seeing him again? Can she do her job and keep her heart intact?

Cade Kelling doesn’t take life seriously. He’s reckless and irresponsible, drinking all his problems away. When his parents bail him out for the last time, will he be able to handle seeing Francesca after all of these years? Will he be able to tell her what really happened that night 5 years ago or will he lose her forever?

And the most important question….

Can these mangled hearts be mended?

Cover by Samantha Bagood at Cover Pub

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17620381-mangled-hearts

Bio:

Felicia Tatum was born and raised in Tennessee. She always loved reading, and at the age of twelve began writing. Her passion for creating stories grew and in May 2012, she finally wrote her first novel, The White Aura.

She still lives in Tennessee with her daughter and her kitty. She loves cooking and books. Animals are some of her best friends. She watches a lot of Disney channel and often dreams up new book ideas. She’s currently writing the second book in series, as well as a romance novel. Her dream is to write as many books as possible while entertaining as many people as possible.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/feliciatatumwriter

Twitter: www.twitter.com/sassybrunette55

Website: www.feliciatatum.com

UtopYA Celebration Sale

Tomorrow I leave for the wildest book conference ever: UtopYA in Nashville! UtopYA is a unique conference designed for female indie authors of young adult paranormal fantasy and the fans that love them. Super specific and super fun, like a wild girls-only weekend with some of the best and quirkiest gals on the planet. I CAN’T WAIT!

One of the things I’m looking forward to most this weekend is getting to meet all of the fabulous indie authors that I’ve been chatting with online for months! I’ve been reading their books and plan to fangirl it up in there with the best of them. I wish I could take all of you with me. I’ve even been daydreaming about planning a roadtrip for my Hooligans next year.  Wouldn’t that be fun?

Since we can’t take you all with us, a bunch of us got together and decided to make it a little easier for you to join the fun from the comfort of your own home, or the beach, or wherever you’re reading this summer. To celebrate the wild weekend of UtopYA, we’ve put a few of our books on sale for 99cents! I’ve listed Seen and A Light In The Darkness so you can start either of my series for less than a dollar. Some of my favorite authors and friends are participating, so I’ll be snatching up a few of these, too. Grab them while they’re hot, then share the good news with your friends.

And if you’re heading to Nashville for UtopYA or if you live nearby, stop by and see me at the YA/NA Book Signing Thursday night. It’s a free event with over twenty authors showing up to meet fans and sign books. Come join the fun and say hello!

Here are some handy links to help you get started:

Seen on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes

A Light in the Darkness on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes

New Release: Wandering

It’s time to celebrate, friends! I finally found Rory and now you can find her, too. Her story continues in Wandering, a brand new release in The Wanderer Series that’s out today. To celebrate my new book release, I’ve put the first book in the series on sale. If you haven’t yet read Seen, you can grab it for just 99cents, this week only, on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes. Grab it while they’re hot! This deal won’t last long.

When you’ve traveled between worlds, there’s nowhere left to go but home.

Rory has never been so cold in her life. But the biting wind only reminds her of another pain that grows more intense with each passing day. Each night Jaron’s beautiful voice sings in her dreams, and each day her footsteps draw her closer to his side. Danger and intrigue at every turn, no distance is too far when you’re returning for true love.

Rin has spent the last five years searching for Rory across two worlds. Now a series of visions have him convinced he’s growing closer to finding her. But when Rory slips through another portal, taking his visions with her, he finds himself back at square one. To find her now he’ll need the help of an old friend and a little otherworldly magic.  This time he intends to bring The Wanderer home for good.

Wandering

Available on Kindle, Nook, and iTunes

Indie Author Spotlight: Cindy Bennett

Cindy C Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City, growing up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She and her husband raised two daughters, two sons, and a plethora of pets without wandering far from the fold. They’ve now added two beautiful daughters-in-law to their family. In addition to writing YA fiction, she volunteers her time working with teen girls between the ages of 12-18, all of whom she finds to be beautiful, fascinating creatures that constantly inspire her stories. She developed a love of writing in high-school English, when a teacher introduced her to the joys of escaping reality for ten minutes each day in writing. When she’s not writing, reading or answering emails (notice there is no mention of cleaning, cooking, or anything vaguely domestic) she can often times be found riding her Harley through the beautiful canyons near her home. Learn more at  www.cindycbennett.com .
Social Media Sites
My Blog Facebook Twitter Goodreads

Geek Girl:
Jen’s teenage life of rebelling and sneaking out is growing stale. In an effort to combat her boredom, Jen makes a bet to turn Trevor, a nice geek, into a “bad boy.” Unexpectedly, she is pulled into Trevor’s world of sci-fi movies, charity work, and even–ugh!–bowling. Jen discovers that hanging out with Trevor isn’t so bad after all.
But when Trevor finds out about the wager, all bets are off.


Heart on a Chain:
17-year-old Kate has lived her whole life in abject poverty, with an alcoholic father and drug-addicted mother, who severely abuses Kate. At school, her second-hand clothing marks her as a target. Her refusal to stand up for herself makes her the recipient of her classmates taunts and bullying. That is, until Henry returns.
Henry Jamison moved away six years earlier, just as he and Kate had begun to develop feelings for one another. He returns to find the bright, funny, outgoing girl he had known now timidly hiding in corners, barely speaking to anyone around her, suspicious of even him.
Kate can’t figure out what game Henry is playing with her – for surely his attempts at friendship are a game. What else would the gorgeous, popular boy from her past want with her?

Immortal Mine:
Niahm (pronounced Neeve) Parker is thoroughly content with her life in the small town of Goshen. When Shane Coleman and his nephew Sam move into town, it’s the biggest event to happen in as long as anyone can remember.
Sam is drawn to Niahm against his will. He’d prefer to not be bound to this angry, stubborn, unlikeable girl. For Immortals, love is not only forbidden, but dangerous for her.
Niahm finds herself attracted to the tall, copper-headed boy, who becomes her friend and then her support when tragedy strikes. Soon, she begins to realize that there may be more to Sam than she ever suspected… much more. But what he truly is, she can’t begin to imagine.
Rapunzel Untangled:

Rapunzel is not your average teenager. For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction.
But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.
Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.

 

Help Me Support Adoption

Confession: Adoption is kind of a taboo topic in my house.

Some of you may know that last year we said goodbye to our sweet baby girls after our adoption fell through. I had to pack them up and send them away to their “new mommy” after nearly two years of loving them as my own. That was the hardest day of my life. It wasn’t fair, it didn’t seem right, they never even explained why. But it didn’t matter, they were gone.

So, it may surprise you that I still firmly believe in adoption. There are over 100,000 children in America waiting to be adopted right now and that number appalls me, especially considering how many of us have plenty of love (and food, and clothes, etc.) to share. That is why I consider adoptive families to be heroes – true, genuine heroes.

I have a sweet, wonderful friend named Emily. Emily is the mommy of two little boys, one her biological son and one an adopted son from Ethiopia. They make me smile. Well, last year Emily and her husband decided to adopt once more, this time from the U.S. They felt strongly about helping a mother here in our own state who wanted a safe home for her baby. So, they spent a year doing paperwork and taking on extra jobs to save up for the adoption. Then, the happy day came when they were finally matched with a mom. They got to meet her and hear her story and their journey together began. Now, that baby is due any day.

Last week, Emily confessed that the expenses for the adoption were going to be much higher than expected. She’s doing all that she can to raise the extra funds before the baby is born, but the clock is ticking and fear seeps in as they pray for a solution that will bring that sweet baby home. That’s when Emily’s friends stepped in and offered to help. We’re all offering our own talents, our own resources to help raise the money.

Here’s how YOU can help:

If you live in the Little Rock area, please come by our massive multi-family garage sale this weekend (June 21 & 22) at 5724 Alta Vista in North Little Rock 72118 from 7am to noon. Not only will there be a ton of great bargains, but I’ll have my books on sale and will be happy to sign them for you on Friday morning. Also, one of my street team, Amanda Wilson, is a fabulous baker and she’s offered to bake us up a huge batch of cupcakes for sale. I promise, you’ll want to take home a few dozen!

If you DON’T live nearby, you can still help! This month I’m donating one dollar for every book I sell. This is NOT just a gimmick. For those of you who don’t know, I don’t even make $1 off the sale of any of my books except for the ebook of Seen. If you buy the ebook, A Light in the Darkness, that entire dollar will go to my friend Emily for her adoption. Please help me to help my friend. Buy a book (or two!) and then share this with your friends on Twitter, on Facebook, around the web.

Want to know more about Emily and her family? Visit them HERE and pledge your support.

Help Us Find Rory!

Rory is missing! This crazy character of mine fell through a portal at the end of her book, Seen. Now the sequel, Wandering, is coming out in just 8 days (Squee!) and I need your help finding her!

Maybe you’ve seen the posts other author friends of mine have been leaving around the internet these days. They’ve been doing their best to help us narrow down the search by telling us where Rory definitely is NOT going to be found. They’re such great friends, that they’ve even decided to offer a reward. Will you join the search? The clock is ticking and we could really use your help!

All you have to do is follow the clues left behind by the other authors. You’ll find them all on the Where’s Rory page. Then, come back and leave a guess in the comments on the Where’s Rory page. Anyone who leaves a guess that gets us closer to finding Rory will be entered to win one of the ebooks offered by our authors.

Hurry! The search ends on June 24th!