Heather Marie's Blog

My new website has officially been launched. Check out HeatherMarieYA.com!

Hey everyone! I was invited by Eileen Caines to take part in the My Writing Process Blog Tour, and I'm super excited to get started. You can find Eileen on Twitter and Facebook to find out more about her and her book: WILL THE REAL PRINCE CHARMING PLEASE STAND UP?

Woo hoo! Let's get this party started.

To begin…

What am I currently working on?

As most of you know, I have my supernatural YA debuting on August 25th. I'm pretty freakin' excited about it. (And a little nervous, obs). So I've been working on book two for the Gateway series. I only intended for this story to have two books in total. However, I guess we'll see how it plays out. There's so much going on for Aiden in book two, that as a pantser, I have no idea what the ending will bring. haha

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This is a good question and I wish I had a good answer. It's really hard for me to say what makes my book and/or writing so different from others, because I am a believer that we all inspire each other in some way. And you will always find similarities in everyone's writing/books. That's just a fact. All I can say is that I think my book(s) definitely show the type of person I am. I love fun, creepy, witty stories and characters, and I think THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME demonstrates this perfectly.

How do I write what I do?

I love writing supernatural stories because I am completely fascinated with the idea. I've tried to write other things like fantasy and such, but I didn't love it as much as I do supernatural. There's just so much about it that we don't know or understand and it could go so many different ways. It's creepy to think about the possibilities.

How does your writing process work?

I don't have much of a process. I just sit down on the living room floor, computer on the coffee table, and start writing. My husband often tells me that I'm gonna mess up my back sitting the way I do, but it works for me. It's comfortable. I'm starting to notice that my biggest part of the process is announcing on Twitter what my word goals are for the day. This holds me accountable and just knowing that there are people who expect me to hit that goal, really pushes me to see it through. It works. You should try it!

Well, that's it for the blog tour. Thank you so much to Eileen and for the next three bloggers who have opted in.

You can check out their posts on their blogs next Monday, March 31st.

Jessica from Fly to Fiction can be found on Twitter at: FlytoFiction
Ilene Gregorio can be found on Twitter at: IWGregorio
Rachel Patrick can be found on Twitter at: RachelllRaeee

For more information on my book THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME:
Add GATEWAY on GoodreadsFollow me on FacebookAnd Twitter

Hey everyone! Today I'm featured over on Marci Curtis's blog for her On the Verge Series. Check it out HERE and learn more about Gateway and its main character, Aiden Ortiz!

Hello, hello!

Things are starting to pick-up around here. Sometime within the next month or so, this blog you see here will have a fancy face-lift. That's right. It'll be all nice and pretty and less congested with randomness. Super excited about that.

Also!

If you live in the Northern California area, I would love for you to attend the official launch party for GATEWAY. You can find all the details HERE. Hope to see you there!

The cover for my YA supernatural debut was revealed today by YA Books Central. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone from YABC, and my team over at Curiosity Quills Press, for such a successful cover reveal. There are no words for the excitement I feel. Thanks to my designer, Ricky Gunawan, GATEWAY has itself a pretty fantastic cover. I seriously can't wait to see it in book form. Mark your calendar for its release on August 25th, 2014!

Click HERE to enter the giveaway on YA Books Central for a signed copy! 

BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TWO WINNERS OF THE YA BOOK OF THEIR CHOICE AND THE CURIOSITY QUILLS TOTES: 
SKYE S. (@skyelyte)
AND
MORGAN MERIDIUS (@morganameridius)


THE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVER ARC FOR THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME IS: 
ERIN ENTRADA KELLY (@erinkellytweets)
Yay yay yay!!!! Congrats, Kelly! 
I'll private message you ladies with my email so I can get your prizes to you. Huge thank you to everyone who entered and I promise to have another giveaway soon! 

Hi friends! Thanks for checking out my query. Please give me your suggestions in the comments section. Would love to hear what you think. Cheers!

It takes one person to change your life. How they change it is up to you. 

Sixteen-year-old Delia Summers uses self-mutilation as a way to cope with her father’s abuse. Each cut releases the silent cries for help that she’s held back since childhood. With her parents’ divorce final, and her mother building a new life of her own, Delia and her sister Stephanie struggle to survive with their bi-polar father. 
Protecting her sister from their father’s clutches has become Delia’s full-time job. As the fear of failing her sister weighs upon her every day, Delia suffers the pressure of being the protector, and fighting to hide her shameful scars from the outside world. Her skate crew and her best friend Jenae are all she has to cling to when there’s no where else to go. But life gets messier when Delia finds herself connected to the new boy in town named Jackson––who just so happens to be her best friend’s new crush. 
As Jackson’s story unfolds, Delia realizes that scars aren’t always the permanent marks you can see, but sometimes invisible cracks in the soul that can run just as deep. Timing is everything in this crazy world and Jackson and Delia may have met just in time. Before Delia caves in to her desire to die, she may soon understand what it means to live. 
SCAR TISSUE is a YA dark contemporary complete at 65,000 words. 

The moment is here, you guys!! Thanks to all the love and support, I finally reached 3,000 Twitter followers. Wow. It's kind of crazy, right? I hope my tweets are at least a little interesting. I truly appreciate all of you and your support, as I've said countless times before, but it's true. It's been a crazy journey to publication and you have all been there for me along the way.

I'm excited to have the opportunity to give one amazing follower the chance to win the first ever ARC of THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME. Nothing has been finalized yet, so please understand that there will be a little bit of a wait. With that being said, the minute the cover and edits are ready to rock, this winner will immediately receive their prize, and hopefully love it. Right? RIGHT.

I'll also choose two completely different winners to each win (1) YA book of their choice, plus the Curiosity Quills totes. So, you heard right, there will be THREE winners overall.

Are you guys ready to get started? Scroll on down to the Rafflecopter below! This giveaway is U.S. ONLY this time around. Good luck everyone!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hi, guys and gals! Okay, so I've been talking this up for a while and now that everything is set in stone, I can finally announce what's up for grabs during the giveaway.

You know I like to do something fun to celebrate a 1K milestone on Twitter. I try to give away fun things to show my appreciation for all of you, because, truly, you are all amazing. The last giveaway was a Kindle which turned out to be a hit! I mean, duh, it was a Kindle. Anyway. This time I'm able to do something EVEN MORE EXCITING. More exciting than a Kindle, you say? Yes, indeed. 
You may have heard that I recently got myself a little thing called a book deal. Did you miss that? Oh, well, here you go. I'll just put the link right there for ya. 
Now that's out of the way, let's talk about the prizes. 
When I reach 3K followers on Twitter, I will be hosting a giveaway that will be as follows: 
TWO people will get a chance to win ONE YA book of their choice. That's right. One book each and they get to pick something that is already published. It definitely has to be a YA book, though. Along with that, those two people will also be receiving these awesome totes from my publisher, Curiosity Quills! 
How cute is that!? Here's our lovely marketing co-ordinator, Nikki Tetreault, modeling the cat-tastic tote below:  Honestly, I'm a little jealous that even I don't have one of these, but, you know, whatev. ^.^
Now remember that BIG prize I keep mentioning on Twitter? Well, now I can tell you. 
Are you ready? 





No, really. 





Okay, NOW are you ready? 





One person, yes, ONE, will win the very first ARC for THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME the second it becomes available. 
You heard right. As soon as those puppies are printed and sent, YOU can win one of the first ever ARCs to hold in your hot little hands. The winner will be notified when their prize is ready and shipped, and they'll get to read it before anyone else! What do you think of that? ARE WE EXCITED NOW??? 
Okay, my friends, this is what's up for grabs. This giveaway is U.S. ONLY.  Next time I promise to include my international friends. I hope you are just as excited as I am because this is such a huge deal for me. All of this will be ready to go when I hit 3K followers on Twitter, so please help spread the word! Until then, you can add THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME on Goodreads, you know, if you want to. 
Thank you all for your constant support!!! You're the best. xo

I think the title of this gives it away, don't you think? So since I know you'll just scroll to the part where I announce all the awesome stuff (I'm totally guilty of that), I'm just gonna tell you flat out.

My YA supernatural horror: THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME is going to be published by Curiosity Quills!!!!!

I KNOW, RIGHT?!
I AM SO FREAKIN' EXCITED YOU GUYS YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. 
Here's my query for those interested: 
To seventeen-year-old Aiden Ortiz, letting the dead walk through his body to reach the other side comes with the territory––the territory of being a Gateway. It’s hard enough doing the exchange, sending even one Bleeder away without being seen, but when Koren Banks––the girl who’s been mysteriously missing for the last seven months––comes back into his life, the Bleeders begin seeking him out in droves. 
When confronted by a Dark One, a Bleeder gone rogue, Aiden finds himself infected with an evil inside of him that wants nothing more than to be released. Fighting the urge to let the darkness consume him, Aiden discovers that not only does the Gateway send things away––it also brings things back. 
With Koren and his two best friends, Trevor and Evan, by his side, Aiden fights to rid the world of the evil that’s been released by the Dark Priest, while saving the girl he loves from her haunting past. Time is running out, and Aiden must find a way to abolish the Dark Priest and his Brethren of Shadows before he finds himself consumed into a world of evil––and before the monster lurking inside of him takes control.
THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME is a YA Horror with supernatural elements complete at 72,000 words. It will interest fans of ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and BEAUTIFUL CREATURES. I can be contacted at xxx-xxx-xxxx. 
I can also be found on Twitter: @HeatherMarieYA
Thank you for considering my manuscript. Sincerely, Heather Marie
If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have noticed my talk of Gateway revisions and such. My manuscript was fortunate enough to make it into the hands of Alisa from CQ, who absolutely loved Gateway to pieces. She not only cared about the characters and their story, but she opened my eyes to things I never would have thought to incorporate. She helped turned Gateway into something I like very much to something I *LOVE*. 
When someone not only believes in you and your work, but they also ask all the right questions to challenge you as a writer, it is exactly what you need to create a successful story. I knew Gateway needed work, and many people told me just that, but having Alisa on my side throughout the revision process meant so much. 
Revisions are far from over, of course, but I'm ready to push on and make this book everything it needs to be. I so look forward to this new adventure with Curiosity Quills and their amazing team. Thank you to everyone for all your support and for cheering me on along the way! xo