Heather Day Gilbert's Blog, page 8
June 27, 2016
West Virginia Mountain Mama
I live in West Virginia. I was born and raised here, and we were able to move back here four years ago.
I’m a West Virginia Mountain Mama.
It’s in my blood. Roots run deep here, and so do memories. Stories are passed from generation to generation. We take care of our own.
You have probably heard about the recent flooding here. Our family is safe from harm where we live, but so many others were not. And just when you think it’s all over, today it poured the rain again. I know so many were praying it would stop, that we wouldn’t be pummeled again.
And yet we were.
I don’t know why. Sometimes, it seems these mountains that hold us snug and tight seem to turn on us. It is devastating for those who have lived here for years, who have trusted this is a safe place to live.
But there is an outpouring of assistance, from relief groups to churches to individuals dropping supplies in the box at the local Kroger. Prayers abound. Communities band together and return pets to owners, provide food and shelter.
We’ve had disasters here in West Virginia before, and we’ll have them again. Everyone says this, and it’s true: we’re very resilient. Mountain mamas and daddies abound.
But please pray for those who have been affected. I’m honored I can write novels about contemporary West Virginia, to bring a flavor of our state to readers everywhere. This state is often neglected or mocked, yet it is unique and beautiful and home to so many kind people.
Thank you for your prayers.
-Heather
June 20, 2016
Out of Circulation Release–Pre-Order for Kindle or Buy in Softcover!
“Fans of romantic suspense and inspirational romance will fall in love with Ace and Katie as they race against time to satisfy the demands of a vicious crime lord. This faith-affirming, sweet romance novella is the perfect quick read for a rainy afternoon. Don’t miss it!” ~ Serena Chase, USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog, author of the Eyes of E’veria series
I’m very pleased to share that another book-baby is born today! Although you can find Out of Circulation in the Smoke and Mirrors romantic suspense collection here (it’s still the best deal and you will find other authors to love, as well!), you can now also order yourself a softcover of this novella, if you prefer that version, and it’s live for pre-order if you want to grab it that way.
Find the softcover version of Out of Circulation here.
Find the Pre-Order Kindle version of Out of Circulation here.
Again, the best deal on Kindle version is to go ahead and read it in the Smoke and Mirrors collection! But if you’re looking to get an individual copy with the cover shown above, you can find it at the Kindle link above. This is the start of a 3-novella series. I can’t wait to show the next cover to you! These covers are so gorgeous, I could just sit and stare at each rendering of scenes from the small, fictional West Virginia town of Hemlock Creek!
Here’s a short excerpt from Chapter 1 of Out of Circulation:
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Rearranging the new books, librarian Katie McClure reflected on just how completely her dreams had run aground.
Growing up, she’d always planned on joining the FBI, where her father had worked for fifteen years. But a permanent foot injury and her dad’s early death had negated that plan.
So much for doing anything memorable or spectacular. It seemed God had a funny sense of humor, derailing her noble aspirations and sticking her in the podunk West Virginia town she grew up in.
“Miss Katie, where’s the latest Georgia Ray book? I’ve read five in the series and can’t find the next one.”
Katie snapped out of her funk, directing the young patron to the correct Juvenile Fiction shelf. The girl’s mother, searching for her own reads in Adult Fiction, shot her a grateful smile.
Returning to the New Releases shelf, Katie caught sight of a tall man she’d never seen at the Hemlock Creek Library before. He seemed out of place in his urban button-down and slim dress pants. His wavy, nearly-black hair set off crystal-clear blue eyes. He winked in response to her gawking, and she mentally kicked herself. Seriously. Her life was so boring that instead of bird-watching or stargazing, she’d resorted to nearly salivating over some handsome man perusing library shelves?
Sighing, she decided to reorganize the week’s display books by color, starting with red. She’d worked up a small grouping of her favorite reads when she glanced toward the Reference section. Something caught her eye.
A man in a mask.
She didn’t hesitate to scream. “Everyone hit the floor!” Why wait around to see if the man had a gun?
Her boss, Reba, shot her a quizzical look from the floor behind the front desk. Katie pointed toward Reference, breathing slowly and pondering what she could use as a makeshift weapon, should the masked man move her way.
Sure enough, black combat boots marched straight toward her. Probably hadn’t been the smartest move to shout and draw attention to herself, but she had to do something to protect the library patrons—especially the children.
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Hope you enjoy! Also, don’t forget to sign up for my author newsletter here for all the latest on upcoming releases. Yes, we are still shooting for November 2016 for a release of Forest Child, my Viking historical fans! 
May 25, 2016
Smoke and Mirrors Summer Destination Blog Hop and #Giveaway!
Welcome to those who have hopped over to my blog via Hallee Bridgeman‘s! And if you’re just dropping in as one of my readers, let me explain what’s going on!
The authors of the Smoke and Mirrors Romantic Suspense Collection are conducting a blog hop, with TWO Grand Prize Giveaways at the end for two random winners who comment on each post. The Kindle Fire Prize Giveaway includes some of our ebooks and a KINDLE FIRE, and the Book Lover’s Giveaway includes a $25 Starbucks gift card and some of our signed softcovers!
The authors’ blogs, in order of the hop, are:
(Author Sally Bradley is not participating in this hop, but she is an author in the boxed set!)
PLEASE NOTE: ***You will need to visit each of the 7 blogs above and comment on each one by 5 pm EST on May 30th to be eligible for a chance to win one of our grand prizes.***
The theme of this blog hop is “My Favorite Summer Vacation Destination.” We chose this because each of our novellas is set in the summertime. (Yes, even Alana Terry’s, which is set in Alaska!).
I’ll be the first to admit that we rarely “vacation” vacation. Usually we travel to visit family or our kids travel with friends.
So those times we pay for an extended vacation are rare. We have traveled to Nags’ Head and Emerald Isle, and had a wonderful time both places. I grew up loving the ocean (quite enamored with it, really–I wanted to be a marine biologist for a period of time). But now we’re living in the very land-locked hills of West Virginia, and I’m perfectly content. Still, nothing can make me relax and forget my worries like the sun and salty ocean water. Or a pool.
Even my feet are trying to relax
Sound view at Emerald Isle
However, if I had to choose my favorite summer vacation destination, the place I would LOVE to visit someday, it would be Newfoundland. My Viking historical readers will immediately understand why I’m choosing this–because I’d have first-hand understanding of the place Leif Eiriksson, Freydis Eiriksdottir, and Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir likely sailed to over a thousand years ago. I would also love to see Iceland, Gudrid and Finn’s home, and Greenland, where Eirik and fam lived.
So in the spirit of a Nordic adventuring vacation, here are some photos of what I would do:
Check out the reconstructed longhouses at L’anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland:
Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson
I would also visit Eirik the Red’s family farm, Brattahlid, in Greenland. I would definitely poke around and take lots of pics of Eirik’s wife’s chapel–she was a Christian, just like her son, Leif Eiriksson:
Photo taken by Hamish Laird
Finally, besides trying to visit plenty of Viking museums in Iceland, I’d want to visit the Icelandic Blue Lagoon spa. Here’s a pic of that:
Photo taken by Sarah 1990
So relaxing! But to energize myself, I’d also love to see Icelandic volcanoes or trek through some lava fields there! I can’t imagine how cool that would be!
Photo by Hansueli Krapf
So there you have it–my fave summer destination–maybe someday I’ll get to one or all those places!
Does any of this relate to my romantic suspense novella, Out of Circulation, that you’ll find in the Smoke and Mirrors set? Not really, outside the fact that my main character, Katie McClure, is also land-locked in West Virginia!
Here’s a blurb on Out of Circulation:
When Russian mobsters threaten small-town librarian Katie McClure, she is forced to accept an offer of protection from Manhattan bodyguard Ace Calhoun. As they race the clock to find a long-hidden bank stash, Katie discovers too late that Ace might be the wrong man to trust with her life…and her heart.
And here’s a blurb on the next book in the set–Kelli Hughett’s novella, Dangerous Alternative. You will hop over to Kelli’s blog next!
Summer in Southern California doesn’t get any hotter than this. When Levi Boulter agrees to work for the FBI behind the scenes in Hollywood, he never plans on becoming an operative working to thwart a plan to assassinate the President’s wife—or on keeping a deadly secret from Mahari, the love of his life. When Mahari is kidnapped, Levi makes the gamble of his life in order to save her. Will Levi’s secret divide them forever, or will they come together in time to stop an assassination?
I have read Kelli’s novella, and I think it would be lovely to visit Southern California sometime, too!
So, dear reader, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to comment on EACH of the 7 author’s blogs linked above by 5 pm May 30th. Then, at 7 pm on May 30, two winners who have commented on all the blogs will be chosen for the following grand prizes:
THE KINDLE FIRE GRAND PRIZE:
Includes one brand new Kindle Fire and the following ebooks by the Smoke and Mirrors authors:
The second grand prize is:
The Book Lover’s Grand Prize:
This prize will include a $25 Starbucks gift card, as well as the following signed softcovers by the Smoke and Mirrors authors:
We will email the winners on May 31, but first, come visit us on May 30th starting at 7 pm EST on Facebook here for the announcement of the winners and a Week-Long Virtual Cruise to the destinations in our collection!
During the Facebook cruise, readers will ask the eight Smoke and Mirrors authors questions and we’ll be asking our readers questions! It is a leisurely pace, so you can drop in and out, leaving questions and reading up on the answers later, if you like. It’s a great chance to fellowship with some of your fave romantic suspense authors–and some of your soon-to-be-faves!
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***And now, I have a question for you to answer in the comments! Please be sure to also comment on all the other 6 blogs for a chance to win a Grand Prize! Your question is:
What is the most unusual vacation experience you’ve ever had, and why?***
Hope to see you at our Facebook party on May 30th at 7 pm EST!
May 16, 2016
NEWS!
Many of you know how many years I’ve been writing. Let’s see…I finished my first novel in January, 2009. After that, I submitted 3 books via 3 different agents. Then I decided to become an independent (indie) publisher. My publishing house is now officially called WoodHaven Press and you can check it out here.
But this year is so special! I was asked to join four other historical authors in a collection of novellas centered around a message in a bottle theme. These authors…let’s just say I am totally blown away to be working with these amazing gals. If you haven’t read their books yet, you need to! Here are the names of the others in the collection. Click on their name and you can visit their websites!
Joanne Bischof
Amanda Dykes
Jocelyn Green
Maureen Lang
We are each contributing a message-in-a-bottle themed historical novella for a 5-novella collection with Barbour Publishing, slated for release in February, 2017!
And guess what time period I’m writing? You know it–VIKING TIMES! I don’t want to give away too much, but suffice it to say I’m quite fond of these characters and I think you’re going to enjoy this romance novella.
Here’s a pic of this jubilant author crew!
I also wanted to let you all know that the Smoke and Mirrors 8-novella romantic suspense collection will be LIVE on Amazon for 99c on Friday, May 20th! It will also be free for Kindle Unlimited. You can find it on pre-order now! Click below to go directly to the link.
We’ll be doing a blog-hop with lots of softcovers for a giveaway in the near future, so please watch my Facebook author wall here for more info on that! These are the talented authors in the Smoke and Mirrors set (click the name to visit their websites!):
Connie Almony
Sally Bradley
Hallee Bridgeman
Heather Day Gilbert
Kelli Hughett
Alana Terry
Rachel Trautmiller
Alexa Verde
Just wanted to share my excitement over these two amazing collaborations I’ve been privileged to be part of! I’ll share more news as we get closer to the Barbour release date, but stay posted!
Finally, I could restrain myself no longer from sharing the cover art for Out of Circulation, my novella that is in the Smoke and Mirrors set and will release individually on August 20th. This is Book 1 in my Hemlock Creek Suspense series, a romantic suspense series set in West Virginia! Drumroll please…
Oh my goodness, I just love it. The small town. The mountains. The SKY! And I already know what books 2 and 3 look like, so be watching for those, possibly next year.
Please be sure to add Out of Circulation to your Goodreads To-Read list here!
And that’s all the news for now! I am so pleased to share West Virginia suspense and a Viking historical with you in the near future!
–Heather
