Heather Day Gilbert's Blog, page 4

What Kind of Writer do YOU Want to Be? Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Connie Almony

Today, I’m sharing a guest post with you from author friend Connie Almony. Read to the end for a chance to enter a book giveaway of her most recent release, Writing from the Trenches, which also includes chapters by talented authors Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Louise M. Gouge, Michelle Griep, Julie Lessman, Elizabeth Ludwig, Ane Mulligan, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Vetsch.

Read on for some writing inspiration, authors!

Authors and Book Award Contests–To Enter or Not to Enter?

Last week was quite exciting for me because I received a call that I’d finaled in a book contest I’d entered.

Let me give you a little background, though…

This year, I actually entered not one, but FOUR book contests with independently published releases from last year. I didn’t place in any of the first three, and I’d basically written off the final one, certain my book wasn’t what anyone was looking for.

Which brings me to the truth about writing contests–they’re completely subjective. Yes, I’m sure judges are looking for outstanding writing, edits, etc. But when it comes down to style/flow/storyline, I’m certain each judge is looking for different things. I have judged contests myself, and I know that each judge brings his/her experience to the table–writing experience, experience being personally edited, perhaps experience in what they prefer to read (such as which point of view/tense they prefer). I have watched authors whose books I’ve devoured not even place in contests. Just like tastes in artwork vary, so do tastes in reading material.

via GIPHY

(Let’s face it–we’re all different and that’s not a bad thing!) 

I’m extremely grateful (and I’ve been rather deliriously happy) that my novel, Guilt by Association, finaled in the ECPA’s Christy Award contest.

Continue reading Authors and Book Award Contests–To Enter or Not to Enter? at HeatherDayGilbert.com

Interview and Giveaway with Katherine Scott Jones, author of Shadow Sister

I’m pleased to welcome author Katherine Scott Jones back to my blog today (check out her lovely, book review blog here!). You can find my previous interview with her here. She has a second women’s fiction novel out, titled Shadow Sister, and it’s a beautiful story of love and loss and restoration in a family. As usual, Katherine takes us to unique locales–this time, it’s Bolivia, and then to a vineyard in Eastern Washington.

Read on for some bookish talk with Katherine, who is very much an avid reader like we are, and then enter for an ebook giveaway of Shadow Sister!

Katherine Scott Jones grew up in cities on every U.S. coast and overseas as her family moved with her father’s Navy career. Seattle became home when she married her husband twenty-eight years ago. After graduating from Whitworth University with a degree in communications, she established herself as a freelance writer before turning her hand to fiction. She blogs about books that celebrate beauty at www.katherinescottjones.com. Katherine and her husband have two teenage children. She is the author of Her Memory of Music (2017) and Shadow Sister (2018).

Continue reading Interview and Giveaway with Katherine Scott Jones, author of Shadow Sister at HeatherDayGilbert.com

The Time Has Come…to Update Author Pictures

Some people freeze up for crowds. That’s not me–I actually don’t mind speaking to a large group of people I don’t know, especially about independent publishing/authoring.

Other people freeze up in social situations. I’m okay with that, too–I like getting to know more about others and I’m not afraid to walk up and introduce myself (I think it’s one reason I always fall into the extrovert category on tests, even though I’m just as happy to hole up at home like a hermit for weeks on end).

But one thing does make me freeze up–getting professional pictures taken.

Up until now in my author career (which has spanned ten years, at least), quite honestly, I have skimped on author photos. Meaning I’ve had my family take my pictures. One of my faves was taken by my daughter, who was no older than ten when she took it:

My husband took me out to downtown Appomattox, VA, where we used to live, and took lots of shots for the next author “session”–many in a favorite bookstore/coffee shop there (Baine’s Books and Coffee, if you’re ever in the area!).

AND I’ll admit it, I’ve used a selfie now and then:

But I knew the time had come for updated author pics.

Continue reading The Time Has Come…to Update Author Pictures at HeatherDayGilbert.com

The (Not So) Lazy Days of Summer

Just figured I should check in with a blogpost since it’s been AGES! I am looking forward to being able to share more with you about my upcoming cozy mystery series that will be releasing starting in June 2019, but in the meantime, I’ve been working hard to finish the first three books in it.

Summer hasn’t been slow for me–in fact, I don’t think I’ve slowed down at all yet. I was really honored to be able to be a workshop presenter and to participate in a publishing workshop at the West Virginia Writers Conference early this June. I had a fantastic time. One of my author friends I was pleased to meet face to face (after years of knowing each other online) was Brandy Vallance. You should check out Within the Veil, her gorgeous tale set in Scotland!

I haven’t been able to read much–but I’ve mostly been reading cozy mysteries to get a feel for what I need to bring to my upcoming series. I was pleased to receive an early reader copy of Joanne Bischof’s Sons of Blackbird Mountain, which releases July third!

Continue reading The (Not So) Lazy Days of Summer at HeatherDayGilbert.com

Interview and Book Giveaway with Catie Cordero, Author of Ramble and Roar

 

Hello, folks! I know I haven’t blogged in quite a while–I’ve been keeping busy cramming in as many hours of writing as I can this year. BUT I have to share about author Catie Cordero. Isn’t her book cover above gorgeous? It’s original artwork and she and her husband, Jonathan, modeled for it!

I met Catie at the Breathe Writers Conference in Michigan last October. Catie’s story resonated with me–not just her fictional story, but her journey-to-publication story. I knew Catie was writing the kind of historical novel I would enjoy–realistic, redemptive, and crossover. And it was set in the Roaring 20’s, which I have always been fascinated with.

Fast forward to this year…I was honored to read and endorse Catie’s novel, Ramble and Roar, before its publication. Here’s my full endorsement:

“A debut that blasts out of the gate with all the exuberance of the Roaring Twenties, Ramble and Roar is a joyride of a book. Charged with the sinuous power and passion of 1920’s New York City, this story vividly portrays a world where mobs rule the streets–and once you’re in, there’s no getting out.

Continue reading Interview and Book Giveaway with Catie Cordero, Author of Ramble and Roar at HeatherDayGilbert.com

More about my latest mystery, Guilt by Association, and my road to publication

I was honored that Guilt by Association was chosen to be the March read for the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction book club. I’d never done Facebook Live before, so I was a bit terrified (it is LIVE, I discovered, after a trial run in which I was murmuring to myself on camera and jolting it about). But once I saw so many of my readers chiming in with comments, it felt like a Facebook party. I wanted to share that video here for those of you who missed it!

In this video, I discuss my journey to publication (or basically, why I decided to independently publish my first novel, God’s Daughter, and many others), as well as the opioid epidemic in my home state of West Virginia, which ties in with the foster care theme in the book.

I’d love if you’d comment below with any questions you might have that I didn’t address, and if you’ve read and enjoyed Guilt by Association, I’d be thrilled if you would take time to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads! Thank you all so much.

Continue reading More about my latest mystery, Guilt by Association, and my road to publication at HeatherDayGilbert.com

The Author Lull

I’m the kind of author who sets personal goals and I’ll keep crazy hours and drive myself into the ground to reach those goals. HOWEVER. Ask anyone who’s really close to me, and they’ll tell you that there’s this mysterious LULL I always experience immediately after I launch a book into the world. Here’s what I tend to do in my lull season:

Frantically start brainstorming another book–ANY BOOK
Market my freshly-launched book at a fearsome pace
Start feeling depressed because I’m not moving toward a goal RIGHT THIS MINUTE
Get on Facebook way too much, commenting in groups although no one really cares what my opinion is on things, and I probably don’t either
Drive my husband, my crit partner Becky Doughty, my best friends, and my agent nuts as I throw new book/series ideas out there at a breakneck pace
Drive my kids nuts as I stalk around in an inexplicably bad mood, feeling exhausted, untethered, and aimless
FINALLY DECIDE on what I’m writing next–things return to normal as I throw myself into my next project

I’m hoping there are some other authors out there who experience this mysterious post-release angst.

Continue reading The Author Lull at HeatherDayGilbert.com

My Top Reads of 2017

So, everyone’s making lists of their fave reads of 2017, and I figured I’d just jump on the bandwagon! Please note–I read both mainstream and Christian fiction, so I’ll note whether it’s Christian or not below. Also, if you want to know more of what I’m reading, please follow me here on Goodreads!

I read a LOT of mysteries in 2017 as I was gearing up to write a cozy mystery series in 2018 (working on that now, my friends, and I’m excited to introduce you to some FUN new characters!). So first, I’m going to list the first-in-series mysteries I found this year (and then I promptly started bingeing the ENTIRE SERIES!

Mystery Series:

1) (Christian fiction) The Gwen Marcey forensic mystery series by Carrie Stuart Parks. This series started with A Cry from the Dust and I could NOT put it down. This series features a plucky, breast cancer survivor heroine who’s divorced and carries guns. What more could I ask for!? But wait! There’s more! I can’t figure out the murderers easily!

Continue reading My Top Reads of 2017 at HeatherDayGilbert.com

Release Day for Guilt by Association!

Today, I’m so excited to share that it’s release day for Guilt by Association, which is Book 3 in A Murder in the Mountains Mystery Series. Tess Spencer is back, and as one of my readers said, she’s “loaded for bear!” In this third mystery, our mountain mama is tracking down a drug-dealing killer in Boone County, West Virginia. And she’s not quite sure if and how her fresh-from-prison mama plays into the case…

Here are the buy links for Guilt by Association!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Av2Mr6

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2Av3DrO

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2ByUgEH

iBooks: http://apple.co/2zOQ4jD

Since this mystery delves into the opiod drug epidemic in my home state, West Virginia, I’ve decided to donate HALF my first month’s profits from Guilt by Association (both softcover and e-book versions) to a local, long-term women’s drug rehabilitation center, Sparrow’s Nest. From talking with professionals, I know that long-term rehab provides the best opportunity for addicts to recover, and Sparrow’s Nest is working hard to help these women in their desire to get back to their families.

Continue reading Release Day for Guilt by Association! at HeatherDayGilbert.com