Heather Hamel's Blog, page 11
August 16, 2015
Follow Your Passions
It never ceases to amaze me the different journeys life can take. I am at several sets of crossroads at the moment, trying to figure out my next path.
Some of my passions are so ingrained that they are ‘must haves’ in my life: the horses, writing, and now yoga (but more on that in a moment). I find it interesting, though, that even the ‘must haves’ can branch off in interesting directions.
Writing – It’s no secret to anyone at this point that I get up almost every morning at 5-something to work on my novels before work. What you may not know is that based on a recommendation of my best friend (cough, cough…Katelin Maloney, cough, cough) I’m going to begin working on a screenplay of the first three books of the cryptozoology series! Why wait for anyone to do it for me when I can always try to do it myself?
Yoga – I’ve also decided to follow my love of yoga down the path of becoming a yoga instructor. With the support of another friend, Mandy Inabinett, I will start on this journey next month and every weekend for ten months. Not to mention, this path will allow me to combine both yoga and horses – what more can I ask for!
Thank you to everyone for your continued love and support – and forgiveness if I don’t return calls, texts, or emails with any regularity…nothing in my life is what I’d consider ‘regular’ anymore! And I love it!!!
Follow your passions and NEVER, EVER give up! You never know where they may lead…
August 2, 2015
Katelin Maloney’s Debut Novel
A dear friend of mine, Katelin Maloney, launched her debut novel Drowning yesterday.
Katelin is extremely involved as an advocate against domestic violence and her novel shows her stance. The novel focuses around the lives of Rebecca and Mitch, a doctor and his wife. Mitch continuously escalates his violent behavior towards his wife. It’s a book you won’t soon forget and will want to share with the women in your life.
As of this morning, it is available on Amazon for Kindle only, but you can contact Katelin for a print version of her eye-opening book as well.
Below is my review which, for some reason, isn’t showing up yet:
Katelin Maloney’s debut novel, Drowning, is an outstanding example of what has become an all too common reality for women living with domestic violence. It provides a harsh and realistic window into the lives of victims without pity or the ‘why do they stay’ mentality. The dream sequences are superb, lending depth and insight to Rebecca’s struggle. This would make an excellent Book Club or Book-of-the-Month selection to open the lines of communication to anyone who may be experiencing any sort of domestic violence in their life. Well done, Katelin!
July 25, 2015
Why I Love Summer Vacation (Part 2)
As my 2015 summer vacation is wrapping up by next Friday, I’m thinking back to everything I accomplished and loved about it.
1. First and foremost is time with all my boys. The horses allergies kept me grounded most of the time, but I was able to spend my mornings grooming and loving on them, not to mention extra time with Les.
2. I got SO much writing done! I was able to finish the sequel to Murder of Crows, titled Destruction of Wild Cats (hopefully to be released around Halloween), my first adult historical romance, Rebel Yell, and released the follow-up to Kobi’s book, Sugar: My Journey Home (available now).
3. I got a tan while sweating my butt off for two weeks of horse camp with Dr. Ashley Thompson and Salto De Fe Equine Therapeutics . It was so much fun and I learned so much. Yes, expect books out on her herd at some point!
4. I signed up for yoga teacher training! Yes, that’s right. One weekend for ten months (starting in September) I will be learning how to become a yoga instructor to begin the next phase in my life – much more to follow on that!
5. I was able to help my friend Mandy Inabinett who was opening her own yoga studio, Downdogz, by sewing dozens of eye pillows for her.
6. Last, but definitely not least, I was able to assist my best friend and partner in crime, Katelin Maloney realize her dream of publishing her first book Drowning (release date of August 1st and will be the subject of next week’s blog).
And this was a short summer. Imagine what I can accomplish if I had more time off – hmm, I sense an idea coming on!
July 12, 2015
Royal Palm Literary Award Finalist!
I found out this week that BOTH Within Emerald Forests and Under Sapphire Skies were selected as finalists in the Royal Palm Literary Award with the winner to be announced on October 17th.
While the stories were submitted for Middle Grade fiction, Within Emerald Forests is in the published category, and since Under Sapphire Skies wasn’t published when I submitted it, it is in the unpublished category, so they are not competing against each other!
If you haven’t read the stories yet, click here to see what the hype is about! And if you have read them, please click here to leave a review on Amazon and here to leave a review on Goodreads. They really do help!
Thanks for your continued support and I’ll keep you posted!
July 5, 2015
Independence Day – Country Style
The highlight of Independence Day at the Triple H Ranch is without a doubt the fireworks display over at Molasses Junction. I think I write about it every year – but every year is just a death defying as the last!
We headed out in the truck – the vehicle of choice for redneck fireworks to head out to an intersection in the middle of nowhere. The only thing around is a country store and acres and acres of farmland.
Les set up our folding chairs in the bed of the truck and grabbed his homemade brew from the front seat. His homemade insect repellent is better than anything you can imagine – it smells like eucalyptus oil and keeps away the bugs! We have our priorities in Elkton.
I must also add here that amid the controversy of the Confederate flag where Amazon and Wal-Mart are afraid to offend anyone, it was still flying high and proudly from the back of many pick up trucks – always getting applause from everyone lining the road for the night’s festivities.
We had a front row seat to the action where they were lighting the explosives across the tiny country road. We were told that ‘the least drunk person’ is in charge of lighting them. I assume so they could run away quickly – but the person last night just walked as quick as he could out of harms way. The real excitement is when a firework falls over and instead of shooting up in the air, hurdles down the street – exploding where it shouldn’t.
Last night did not disappoint. There were two such mishaps. The first one shot our way and exploded on each side of the truck (not 10 feet away on either side). The other one was much funnier as it did not involve us. It shot under the overhang to the store, scattering drunken revelers everywhere. I don’t believe anyone was hurt – which is always a good thing.
When we returned home, Les turned into a teenage boy and shot his own, garage sale purchased fireworks in the front field. It was more impressive, and louder, than anything else last night!
Until next year….
June 24, 2015
Why I Love Summer Vacation (Part 1)
Working in education, there isn’t much time during the school year to complete some of my first drafts. I always write SOMETHING during the year (remember NaNoWriMo in November?) but it’s difficult to get from random thoughts to even the first draft.
I set a personal record today and finished two first drafts – yes, you read the correctly…TWO!
The first manuscript is for Destruction of Wild Cats – the follow-up to Murder of Crows. It has the same main characters, Liam and Ellie and now they are in St. Augustine, helping those ghosts!
The second manuscript is outside my genre of Middle Grade fiction. It’s historical romance and has actually taken YEARS to write. I’m still undecided on the title but would LOVE input. It takes place with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West troupe and features a sexy cowboy (of course) and a strong-willed, sassy protagonist. It won third place for the first chapter under the title Western Promise, but recently I’ve taken to calling it Rebel Yell.
Please send me any and all suggestions!
June 14, 2015
Call to Action Results
Wow – what a week this is has been! This is the first week of summer vacation and I feel as if I’ve crammed months into it – plus I have 7 more to go!
The call to action was a huge success! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who participated and helped Within Emerald Forests reach 422 downloads and a brief stint on an Amazon best seller list! I was shocked and blown away – it exceeded ALL of my expectations! But if I could request one more, tiny, favor…if you read Within Emerald Forests (and liked it), please leave me a 4 or 5 star review on Amazon and Goodreads. It’s amazing how little things like that can help!
I would have to say that the first few days of the release of Under Sapphire Skies has been amazing – all thanks to you!
Book 2
June 10, 2015
Today’s the Day – Call To Action!
Today is the day that Within Emerald Forests is available as a FREE download for 24 hours! Click here for the link to the Amazon page.
Please, please – PLEASE tell everyone you know and send them this link to download it for FREE!
Book 1
Book Two of the Cryptozoology Series – Under Sapphire Skies will be officially released tomorrow – on my nephew William’s birthday – the inspiration for Ian!
Book 2
June 7, 2015
Call To Action – Reminder
Just a quick reminder that I’m offering Within Emerald Forests on Wednesday as a FREE download on Amazon. Save the date!!
Book 1
I’ll send the link Wednesday – please share with ANYONE and EVERYONE you know…Let’s see if we can get Within Emerald Forests on a best seller list for the day!
May 31, 2015
And The Winner Is…
I rarely let something as trivial as finishing a book stop me from entering it in a contest…
One of my works in progress a historical romance set in the time and location of the great Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Experience – just won 3rd place in the Writers Editors Competition for the first chapter!
I’m undecided about the title, for the contest I called it Western Promise and I’m currently calling it Rebel Yell. I’m up for suggestions though if anyone has any great ideas!
