2011 LDS Storymakers--Wrap Up

I'm looking forward to reading reports from the conference this year.

My job on the committee was to host the visiting agents/editors with Laura Bingham. We started out with a few glitches that included one agent canceling, and another agent quitting his job as an agent (although he still ones one of the most popular agent blogs).

We also had to brown-nose Robison Wells a little to see if he'd invite his agent, Sara Crowe.

It was amazing how everything came together in the end and we landed three amazing agents, Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger, Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary, Becca Stumpf of Prospect Agency, and fantastic editor, Marcia Markland, from St. Martins Press.

w.o.w.


Agents: Sara Crowe, Sara Megibow, Becca Stumpf

On Thursday afternoon, I picked up Marcia Markland from the airport. She is a sweet and gracious woman and marveled at the expanse of blue sky in Utah. We went for a small tour around downtown SLC and found that we had something in common--we are both directionally challenged (Marcia, I know the temple is here somewhere, let's turn this way)--something that James Dashner pointed out later when a group of us were in The Van going to dinner.


With Marcia Markland at the Whitney Gala

Fast forward a couple of hours and ANWA writer, Karen Dupaix, arrived at the hotel with agent Becca Stumpf. Moment of surreal-ness when Becca and Julie Wright realized they'd met before at a conference in NY. We all had dessert and Becca proved to be very delightful and very funny.

Laura Bingham had brought agent Sara Megibow in earlier that afternoon, but she had a couple of clients to hook up. Pretty cool that 2 of her clients were coming to the conference. I didn't get to meet Sara Megibow until the next day, but she is definitely an agent who doesn't mix words. She exuded confidence and enthusiasm in every aspect.

Agent Sara Crowe flew in close to midnight, so we were able to connect at the welcome on Friday morning.


Me with writer Christy Dorrity

Throughout the conference, I was told repeatedly how great each of our guests were. All of the agents, and Marcia, requested manuscripts and gave excellent advice all the way around. They all came to the Whitney Gala on Saturday night and it was cool that one of Sara Crowe's clients, Dan Wells, won Best Novel.

Speaking of the Whitney's, two of my "upcoming" co-authors won their first Whitney Awards: Annette Lyon for Band of Sisters in the General category, and Julie Wright for Cross My Heart in the Romance category. It was weird, but I think I was more excited when they won, than when I won in previous years. (No, Alma the Younger didn't win but a most excellent book, Trespass by Sandra Grey, did. We had fun talking about our historical faux pas that we hope our readers don't notice.)


Me with Annette Lyon & Lisa Mangum at the Whitney Gala

Taking Marcia back to the airport she commented that this conference was the nicest one she's ever been to. She loved the people and marveled that she'd been treated so well. So, a big shout out to the conference attendees. Thanks for doing the committee proud!

The Bitter & The Sweet

Early this morning I spent time reading about a good friend of mine's new battle with breast cancer. She was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. Fortunately it hasn't spread to the rest of her body. She is journaling each day on a private blog and it's heart-wrenching to read it. How did she find out? A dentist wouldn't treat her because of a sore in her mouth and told her to see a doctor for an antibiotic. One thing led to another and she is now fighting the beast.

Her advice? If you are 40 or older and have no history of cancer in your family, get a mammogram each year. If you are under 40, with history, start earlier.

So, next Monday (after the craziness of the Storymakers Conference & Mother's Day), I'm scheduling a mammogram.

In other, much better news, I found out this morning that ALMA THE YOUNGER won 2011 Best of State in Literary Arts for Fiction. A couple of years ago, ABINADI won. My husband said to me, "Are we going to get another parking ticket?" Hope not! (for the torrid details of my last Best of State adventure, read here)

Looking for Blog Reviewers!

Only 6 more weeks until AMMON is released!

I'm looking for 20 blog reviewers who can post on their blog, and other locations such as DeseretBook.com, Seagullbook.com, Goodreads, and Amazon. Also, I need the reviews to be coming in between June 1-Jun 30. If you know you can meet this deadline, I'd love to hear from you!

If you are interested, please send me your address: heather at hbmoore dot com

I'm also including a bonus book for those who can post a review before June 1st!

Thanks in advance!

Review for The Woman He Married by Julie N. Ford

I don’t normally join blog tours with this particular blog, because this blog is all about ME, not someone else. Lol. But sometimes I must make an exception, and this one is for Julie Ford.

I first got to know Julie about 3 years ago when she was looking for an editor to help with her book, “The Curse of the Minivan.” As you know, the journey to publishing can be long and arduous and to Julie’s credit, she persevered, worked hard, and now she has three of her books contracted for publication. “The Curse of the Minivan” is now The Woman He Married and was recently released by Whiskey Creek Press. Her second book, Count Down to Love, will be released by Bonneville Books, July 2011.





Julie is a great writer, but she still had to go through the refiner's fire with lots of submissions, rejections, and constantly working on her craft. It was probably as exciting for me, as it was for her, to see her books pop up on Amazon and to realize she is now a real, bonafide, published novelist! Her books are available for order on Amazon.


My review of The Woman He Married:
Married 11 years, three children, part-time defense attorney, elementary school volunteer, are just some of the things Josie McClain Bearden precariously balances. When she starts to suspect that her high profile husband is having an affair, Josie's carefully juggled life starts to crumble.

The Woman He Married is a journey of self-discovery as Josie comes to grips with her newly-defined self and must determine what she really wants her life to become. She also must decide if she is willing to fight against the odds in a fading marriage, or if she'll let demons of the past gain the upper-hand. A compelling plot, a roller coaster of insightful emotions, dark humor, and the steady hope in human nature, all combine into a novel that's difficult to put down.

So I’m really excited to be a part of Julie’s blog tour! Julie is running 2 contests, so be sure to check those out (below).

Contest 1: Julie is doing a fun blog tour (April 8–18) where you can enter her contest and win a signed copy of the book plus a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card by leaving a comment on MY blog. You can increase your chances of winning by visiting Julie’s blog, Queries2Reviews, and get the link for the next review, click on other reviewers and leave comments. Every day there will be a new link for that day’s review.

The winners will be announced on Julie’s blog on April 20.

Contest 2: If you read The Woman He Married between now and May 28, you can go to Julie’s blog and vote for who you feel Josie should have chosen in the end. You’ll be entered into the 2nd contest to win a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card.

Book signing April 2

I'll be doing Ladies Night at the Fort Union Deseret Book on April 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m. (Utah). It's an awesome store and they have tons of goodies and other authors/musicians there.

Also, some of you wanted an update on my interview with a Dial Press editor over the weekend. We spent about 20 minutes talking about my YA book, which was really priceless to me. She gave me some great feedback, but even better, she said the premise was intriguing and very cool. A few of my friends were worried that the market was saturated in this genre, but the editor said it has great potential, so my confidence was aided by her comments.

She said it felt like a cross between The Giver and All Summer in a Day (Ray Bradbury). So my plan is to do another read-through/revision with her suggestions in mind, then submit the manuscript and see what she thinks.

In other news, I finished the final proofread of galleys for AMMON. I was very happy to find that I really enjoyed reading the story. That's always a good sign, and now I'm more excited to begin the promotion phase. In the next couple of weeks, I'll make an official request for reviewers.

Last night at critique group, Michele Holmes gave us copies of her latest book. It's a really fun western romance (great Mother's Day gift, hint hint):

Good Day so far . . .

In the writing side of my life, it's been a decent couple of days.

This morning I heard from my publisher that the non-fiction book I co-wrote with Angela Eschler was officially accepted. Not as the World Giveth: Christ's Gifts to Women will be released March 2012 in time for Mother's Day (unless the world comes to an end first).

Also, today I finished the 2nd draft stage of my YA Speculative novel and 'maybe' solidified the pitch. I was able to answer some of the bigger picture questions that were proving quite elusive.

Yesterday, I got a sneak peak at the cover for my next book: AMMON. It will be out in June. I'll be doing the final proofread pretty soon (which can be a painful process because I can't really change anything, just fix typos or formatting stuff).



In the next few weeks, I'll start to recruit reviewers for AMMON and come up with a several week giveaway leading up to the release date. Stay tuned . . .

Happy writing and reading everyone!

Sorry . . .

I've been a lame blogger. But if it's any comfort, I've been doing a lot of writing.

I finished the first draft of my YA speculative book and now I'm doing some revision work before sending out to some alpha readers, whom I am feeling very sorry for in advance (since this is my first YA novel and I'm sure I still have a lot to learn). But this weekend I'll be meeting with an editor from a national publishing house, so I'll let you know if she loves the idea or hates it. (And now you know why I was pushing to have the first draft done by this week!)

I tried to write a pitch, but then it turned into a 3 page synopsis. So I tried again, and although I'm not happy with it yet, at least it's there in black and white. You can tell me if it sounds lame-o.

The Burning
YA Speculative
72,000 words

16 year old Jezebel has been taught to suppress her emotions at young age in order to avoid censure by the New Government. But when she discovers the truth behind her grandmother’s execution—the crime of falling in love—Jez realizes that the emotions she’s been battling put her in the same category as her grandmother. Jez becomes a dangerous liability in a dying world besieged by non-stop rain, where the survival of civilization is dependent on absolute obedience.