Author Heather McCorkle

I've been dying to scream out from the rooftops about this novel since I beta read it for Christine over a year ago now. It is so amazing that I have trouble finding the words to describe it. All I can say is that you MUST read this novel, it is utterly breathtaking. I'm beyond excited that it is coming out this September through Compass Press. It is called Transcend and it's by Christine Fonseca. Here is the cover: Wondering what all the mystery of the masquerade is about? Well, along with the cover reveal the participants are revealing a secret of their own. My secret: This winter my very first high fantasy novel is set to release! The date isn't solid yet, Compass Press says somewhere between November and February depending on editing. Get ready for dragons, sword-wielding warriors, and fair maidens who can kick some butt. My second secret (why yes, I'm generous, you get two): I'm terrified. Agents and many of the big 6 publishers say fantasy is a hard...

Last week my goal was to complete the new ending for my work in progress. I failed. *sigh* but I'm close, as in like, maybe a page or two away. The 'day' job has been draining and marketing has kept me busy with almost every other free moment. This week I'll get it done though, I'm determined! As for reading goals, I finished reading Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel and enjoyed it. A girl who can glimpse the future, a family filled with drama, and parts of it take place in my old stomping ground. Can't go wrong there. And the eBook is free right now on both Kindle and Nook so it costs you nothing to check it out. How about you? How did you do on your writing or reading goals last week? And have you entered my contests yet? Here is the latest one, and it's for a great cause (for the details and other giveaways click on the Events tab above). You can skip options that you don't want to do and move onto those that you do: a Rafflecopter giveaway

This week on the #WritersRoad chat we talked about character mannerisms and actions. It was an excellent chat and I walked away with a lot of great ideas. Today's #writetip is inspired by the chat. #WriteTip: Mannerisms should be unique to each character~to a point~and she be used to show instead of tell. Such as, crossed arms and looking down one's nose to show defiance, tight jaw and clenched teeth to show anger, maybe a slight limp to hint at an old injury. For some excellent ideas on character mannerisms and description I highly recommend The Emotion Thesaurus . It truly is a writer's bible. Don't forget to enter my eBook and paperback giveaway , it's to help a great cause !

It may seem like an odd picture to feed my muse, but there's a fantastic story behind why. You may remember the Spruce Knoll for Endangered Species mission. Well that mission has changed and become much bigger. Now all three novels in the channeler series (The Secret of Spruce Knoll, Channeler’s Choice, Rise of the Rector) will go toward a new, fantastic charity. Unlike the last charity who would not allow me to mention them, this new charity gave me approval to announce that I’m donating to them! Though it’s a new charity some of you may have heard of it (say maybe the Vampire Diaries fans among you). It is the IS Foundation which stands for Ian Somerhalder Foundation (yep, the very one from Vampire Diaries)! I’m incredibly excited to be giving to this amazing charity because they do so much for not only animals, but the youth and the environment. Since you, my friends and fans, will in essence be helping me help this charity by purchasing my books I will start giving you...

My goal last week was to finish a new chapter that I'm working on for my editing project, and I did! Yay! *throws confetti* On the downside, I realized I needed to write another new chapter. *sigh* Oh well. The celebration was fun while it lasted. These chapters will make it stronger overall so I'm happy to be writing them. My #writegoal (remember to use this hashtag on Twitter if you'd like to check in with me and others for support on your goals) for next week is to finish the second new chapter. Did you make your goals for last week? What are your goals for this coming week? On a side note, due to having two posts go up on Monday, I fear that my shout out for author Kristie Cook's fabulous cause (supporting a hotline for domestic abuse victims) may have gone under the radar for many. So I hope you'll check out this great cause at this link and enter to win the signed books I'm giving away to help support the cause. Enter here: a Rafflecopter givea...

First, for those who are dying to know, the winner of the final week of the puca tour giveaway is: Shana  Congrats Shana! You've won signed copies of The Vespertine and The Springsweet by Saundra Mitchell.  Last week this amazing picture fed my muse as I worked on a new chapter that is going into my work in progress. It was one of those surprises that comes up during editing when you realize you need to flesh something out. And wow am I glad I realized it because I’m loving this chapter! As for reading muse, I just finished The Springsweet by Saundra Mitchell. It is part historical, part paranormal, and all AWESOME. I love this author’s work, she is just amazing. Her writing is almost lyrical in the way that it flows. A natural storyteller. I highly recommend it. A surprise inspiration was the discovery that To Ride A Puca is being featured on Bookpinning . It’s a great site that features some outstanding authors and I’m completely honored to be among them. Cl...

Last January author Kristie Cook  made a pledge to donate $500 to The National Domestic Violence Hotline if any of her books made it (again) to the Top 100 All Kindle Paid titles list. Just a couple weeks ago she  announced that she was getting close to selling my 100,000th book and she'd be celebrating in some way or another. And if you've read her first novel, Promise, you surely remember that Tristan wanted to teach a certain wife-beater a lesson. Rather than waiting to hit the Top 100 list again, Kristie is going to donate that $500 to The Hotline when she has sold her 100,000th book. Sometime this month she'll be clicking that donation button. But she'd love to make it more than $500 and this is where you can help. For every 1,000 books sold past the 100,000 mark, up until July 30, 2012, she'll donate another $100.* So what can you do? Well, you can... Buy a book , of course, if you haven't read the Soul Savers Series. Remember, Promise and Genesis...