When’s the Next Author Signing?


 JOIN ME ON JUNE 10TH AT THE CHESHIRE STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Come on down for some great live entertainment, tasty food, and cool vendors!

Mark your calendar for  Saturday, June 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.! I’ll be at the Cheshire Strawberry Festival on the Green (111 Church Dr., Cheshire, CT) selling and signing books in Booth C9.

So if you’d like to meet me and have me autograph your book or take a photo together, please stop by this free event!

You can find directions and all the info you need on the Strawberry Festival’s website: http://www.funcheshireevents.com/info/cheshire-strawberry-festival-and-craft-fair

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I sent out an author update to all my email newsletter subscribers on May 31 about the event (from kourtney(dot)heintz (at)kourtneyheintz.com). If you didn’t receive it, please check your spam because the email included a free unpublished ghost story for all my newsletter subscribers.

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If you aren’t subscribed to my newsletter and you’d like to get a copy of the short story, just hop on over to my website and sign up for my author updates: http://kourtneyheintz.com/contact/

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Today is the last day to enter this Fantasy/Urban Fantasy giveway. You can win up to 28 ebooks including The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts!

Make sure you get your entry in today, June 5!

Posted in author appearance, Events, Giveaways | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The Best 100 Novels Challenge

When I first read about the 100 Best Novels Challenge on Nathan Bransford’s blog, I thought this would be a fun challenge.  It was definitely fun at first, but then I reached 50 books and it got hard. Really hard. I’ve read tons of novels, but I got stuck on what makes a book a best novel.

For me, it was something that stuck with me years later, something that left an indelible mark on me, something I’ve reached for and reread, something I can still tell you something about now. Some of these inspired my own work. Some of these made me a better writer. Some had characters that resonated with me. Others had unique plots of world building. Some of these are just reads that I truly loved.

Then came the ranking. I did the best I could. But it’s hard to compare a YA vampire to a classic mystery and decide which is better. Especially since I adore the paranormal. Decisions, decisions.

Here is my list of the 100 best novels:

  1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  2. Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (I read the French version)
  3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
  4. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  5. Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
  6. The Witch of Black Bird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
  7. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
  8. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  9. Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco
  10. The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
  11. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
  12. The Ocean at the End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
  13. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
  14. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  15. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
  16. House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende
  17. 1984 by George Orwell
  18. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  19. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
  20. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
  21. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  22. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  23. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  24. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
  25. No-No Boy by John Okada
  26. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  27. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
  28. Animal Farm George Orwell
  29. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
  30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  31. The Shadow Behind the Stars by Rebecca Hahn
  32. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
  33. Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
  34. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
  35. Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
  36. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  37. Ensnared by A.G. Howard
  38. The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams
  39. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.L. Milne
  40. The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig
  41. The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
  42. Bones of Fairie by Janni Lee Simner
  43. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
  44. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
  45. The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
  46. Wait For Me An Na
  47. The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
  48. The Murderer’s Daughters by Randy Sue Meyers
  49. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris
  50. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
  51. Invincible by Dawn Metcalf
  52. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  53. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
  54. The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
  55. L’etranger by Albert Camus
  56. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  57. The Hound of the Baskerville by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  58. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
  59. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
  60. To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
  61. Franny and Zoey by J.D. Salinger
  62. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
  63. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
  64. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
  65. South of the Border West of the Sun by Haruki Marukami
  66. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  67. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  68. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
  69. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  70. If Onions Could Spring Leeks Paige Shelton
  71. Double Up by Gretchen Archer
  72. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
  73. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
  74. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  75. Death’s Dream Kingdom by Jessica Penot
  76. Deadline by Chris Crutcher
  77. The Future of Us by Jay Asher
  78. Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm
  79. Nightshade Andrea Cremer
  80. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
  81. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  82. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  83. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch
  84. Unhinged by A.G. Howard
  85. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
  86. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  87. Divergent by Veronica Roth
  88. Mischief Amanda Quick
  89. Witch Hill by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  90. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
  91. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  92. Caught by Harlen Coben
  93. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
  94. Storm Winds by Iris Johansen
  95. Fatal Fixer Upper by Jennie Bentley
  96. Heist Society Ally Carter
  97. Millicent Min Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
  98. Sun Blind by Gwen Hansen
  99. The Darkwater Liar’s Account by K. Lyn Wurth
  100. Slumber Party by Christopher Pike

After spending hours on this, I’m hesitant to tag anyone with this mighty task. So if anyone wants to participate, comment below with a link to your list and I’ll link to your post here in my post. And if you just want to share your top ten or chat about the books on my list, comment below.

 

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Posted in novels, reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

My Reading Round Up

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reorganizing all my books. This is a 1/3 of what I tackled. As I dusted and rearranged my books, I realized it was time for a reading round up here on the blog. Especially since I’ve given myself a Goodreads Reading Challenge of reading 39 books this year.

But first I want to disclose that I am now an Amazon Affiliate. The legal disclosure will now appear in the footer of my blog going forward. What that means is that any time I include an Amazon link on this blog, if you click on it and make a purchase, Amazon will then pay me a percentage based on what you buy. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it’s a way for me to make a little more money and also track if sales happen from my links.

It in no way impacts my book reviews because I always write positive reviews of books because I feel there is an inherent conflict of interest in authors reviewing books and giving  negative reviews of other authors. If I don’t like a book, I simply don’t review it.

So far I have read 13 books this year. Instead of posting all those reviews here, I’ll just give you a one-sentence thought excerpted from my review. (The books are listed in chronological order of when they were read.)

The world building is exquisite and I never felt lost–not for a single second.

http://amzn.to/2pLcAoq

2.

The sequel was a terrific follow up and had me hooked from the first page.

http://amzn.to/2pLHKeR

3.

This is the best end to a trilogy that I’ve ever read.

http://amzn.to/2qfJocy

4.

I am in awe of how Ms. Clare can loop all these plot threads together so perfectly.

http://amzn.to/2r6bwiY

5.

This was a quick read and sure to delight fans of feel good romances with a Christian touch.

http://amzn.to/2rfFqyG

6.

My last book release had me dreading promotion, but Tim Grahl’s handbook has given me the tools and the perspective to dive into the next book launch with gusto.

http://amzn.to/2pL4pbW

7.

Once again Gretchen Archer delivers a lightning-fast, fantastically fun read in her Davis Way series. I’ve read every single one and each one is better than the last one–which is saying a lot because the first book was awesome!

http://amzn.to/2r5Fzra

8.

I would highly recommend this book to people with a passion for the ocean, an interest in marine environmental issues, or who wonder what ocean exploration might be like.

http://amzn.to/2qG3xcL

9.

Intricate plotting, cool mystery, sweet romantic subplot, and a host of Hollywood stars invading Star City, Utah, all conspired to create a great read.

http://amzn.to/2pLcOMp

10.

The concept for this book immediately grabbed my attention with a fate changer and a cursed fate.

http://amzn.to/2r5L4Go

11.

Wow, I am a definite fan of Dawn Metcalf and will read whatever she writes next!

http://amzn.to/2qjrNOG

12.

Little do they know that their pranks will awaken the actual ghosts and draw them into a terrifying secret…

http://amzn.to/2r6hUGM

13.

I had to read my own book again to work on the sequel. It counts toward my reading challenge. 😉 A time travel murder mystery filled with unbelievables–ghosts, spells, and curses.

http://amzn.to/2rflgEU

What have you been reading? Are you participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge this year?

Posted in reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Why Self-Hosting a Blog Became Important to Me

Welcome to my new blogging home! I kept everything I could about the old blog, including my 7 years of posts and my theme, and migrated it over to my website.

I’m sure lots of you are wondering why after 7 years with WordPress.com, I decided to self-host my blog on my own website.

It wasn’t a decision I undertook lightly because it was costly and time consuming.

I’d thought about it in the past as a way to increase traffic to my own website, but the cost had dissuaded me. Besides, everything was going great with WordPress.com. I didn’t have a need to switch.

But in November 2016 during the tail end of my blog tour for Highway Thirteen to Manhattan something awful happened: my blog was suspended by WordPress.com for violating the terms of service.

There was no warning. I just typed in the URL and got a this site is suspended for violating the terms of service page.

I emailed WordPress and they told me someone had notified them that my blog was spam and  therefore in violation of the terms of service because I was doing book promotion on my personal blog that they hosted.

Now, mind you, my blog is about MY AUTHOR JOURNEY. And I absolutely was posting about my book tour. But only about my book tour. I emailed with WordPress explaining this and they quickly reinstated my blog a few days later and apologized for the mistake.

This experience, however, shocked me. That my blog platform could be taken down so quickly without any notice during a blog tour told me that I could no longer remain with WordPress.com as my blog host. It was simply too risky.

I immediately contacted my amazing web designer and she began the steps to build my blog into my own website so that I could self-host it.

We began the process in December. It’s been months of migrating and checking and testing. I’m hopeful things will transition smoothly, but I’m sure there will be hiccups.

We were able to migrate all my blog subscribers, so you should still get updates about postings in your inbox. If anyone isn’t receiving them, please let me know and we will look into it.

Have any of my blog friends made the switch to self-hosting? How has your experience been?

 

 

 

Posted in blogging, Promotion | Tagged , , , , , | 30 Comments

The Story of the Door

 

Ah, the door. I promised a story, so here goes. A couple years back, I begged my old friend Ant to take me to Sleepy Hollow. I love the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Washington Irving. After reading Jessica Verday’s The Hollow, I had to visit the graveyard.

As we wandered the cemetery where the headless horseman took his legendary ride, we came across this mausoleum. I’ve always been fascinated by hourglasses and I took 6 photos–my norm for when I find something intriguing. The design lingered in the back of my mind.

A month later, I was working on my first draft of The Girl Who Saved Ghosts. I had this scene where Kat is led by her great aunts, Jacqueline and Vivian, to the center of power in her family’s home, Dumbarton. And this door popped into my mind.

Here’s  a sneak peek at the draft:

I stood there, staring at the door. It was a greenish-blue metal and had an hourglass sculpted on it. Carved above the hourglass was a crescent moon and below the hourglass was a sun.

I looked from Vivian to Jacqueline, bewildered. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Open this door. It protects the family’s power,” Jacqueline said.

There wasn’t a knob or a handle. No keyhole. Nothing. “How?”

“Touch the door. Let it know who you are and why you are here,” Vivian said.

Nothing like major existential questions. Who was I? Katarina Preston. Now Katarina Langley. I was a girl who spoke to ghosts and helped them with their reckonings. I was the Langley heir. A time traveler who changed the past. The one who protected the Radcliffes from supernatural harm.

Why I was here? That was complicated. I wanted to find out who my family was. And I was supposed to help Evan by returning the Kingsley dagger to him. And I needed training to use my powers to protect Joshua, Evan, and everyone else I cared about. I chewed on my lip and stared at the door. Was that enough? Was there more I had to tell it?

Suddenly, the hourglass came to life. The sand began flowing in reverse from bottom to top. When it was full, the door sprang open.

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If you’d like to receive more insider info like this along with upcoming giveaways, preorder giveaways, and author events, please sign up for my newsletter:

http://kourtneyheintz.com/contact/

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If you add The Girl Who Saved Ghosts to your want-to-read list on Goodreads, you will receive alerts whenever I’m giving away an advance reader copy or a signed book. They will also let you know when the next book is the series is coming out.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34619522-the-girl-who-saved-ghosts

 

Posted in book release, Giveaways, inspiration, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dog Days of Winter


I lay down in the snow one day and just looked up at the trees. When I lived in the city, Emerson and I would take walks and go lay on a bench and stare up at the trees. I don’t know why I stopped making time for that, so I’m going to do more of it this year.


Reagan has this new game in the snow, she takes a tennis ball, buries it, and then digs it out. This provides such entertainment for her. And as the snow goes flying past me, I can’t help but laugh.

We also play ball a few times a week. She does this thing where she bit the ball with her nose back at you to play catch. Hilarious.

Emerson and I have been playing more. He loves to take my old clothes and beat them up and chew on them.

He can make a game out of anything. Sometimes we are lying in bed and I move and he decides it’s a game and starts attacking me.

It’s funny what amuses animals. And how much it amuses me to watch them.

What do your pets do that makes you smile or laugh?

Posted in Personal, writing conference | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Life Lessons from Movies

High Strung

Believe in yourself. Never ever give up on your dreams.

 

Odd Thomas

Everyone has their quirks. Embrace yours and be the best you that you can be.

 

Camp Rock

It’s easier to lose yourself than to take a chance and be you. But you risk losing everything when you blend in instead of standing out.

 

I Give It A Year

Sometimes you have to admit a major life mistake and let go of what you thought you wanted to get what you really want.

 

Spending a good part of my day in bed, I’m catching up on movies. These are just a few of the life lessons I’ve learned from movies this week. Any movies you’d recommend that gave you a sudden insight?

 

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Highway Thirteen’s Blog Tour Stops

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This week, I’ll be on these blogs chatting about my book! On A Writer’s Mind, I’m sharing my favorite scene, genres I like to write, and how the cover relates to the book!
November 21 Spotlight
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November 23 Interview
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November 24 Thanksgiving
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November 25 Spotlight
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November 28 Guest Post
Roxanne’s Realm
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Butternut Blast Giveaway is wrapping up at the end of the month, if you’d like a chance to be a character in the next Six Train book, win Butternut goodies, or an Amazon gift card, please get your entries in by 11/30!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted in blog tour, book launch, Giveaways | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Highway Thirteen’s Blog Tour Continues

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Highway Thirteen to Manhattan’s book tour continues!
This week’s interview reveals my favorite foods, dream trip, and if I write to music. The guest blog is about how to create memorable characters.
The giveaways are still going on too! So swing by any of these posts and chat with me!
November 14 Spotlight
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November 14 Spotlight
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November 15 Spotlight
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November 16 Spotlight
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November 16 Review
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November 17 Interview
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November 18 Review
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November 18 Guest Blog
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I have an author appearance this weekend too. If you’re in CT/MA/RI and you want to get a signed copy, please stop by!
November 20th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In South Windsor, CT, at Maneeley’s (65 Rye St.) at the 2nd Annual Crafts Show: signing and selling books.
Posted in blog tour, book release, Giveaways | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

HTTM's Blog Tour Continues

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This week continues my blog tour with a list of my favorite paranormal reads, a couple reviews, a spotlight, and an interview where I dish about the writer I’d like to have dinner with and what you’d be surprised to know about me. Stop by any of the posts this week to chat and enter the giveaways going on there!
November 7 Guest Blog
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November 8 Review
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November 10 Spotlight
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November 11 Interview
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Thanks to everyone who purchased a copy of Highway Thirteen during my release week. It hit the Amazon Bestseller lists for Psychic Thrillers and Psychic Suspense!
It was on the Hot New Releases for Psychic Thrillers, Psychic Suspense, and Paranormal and Urban Fantasy too!
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Also many thanks to readers who read an ARC and left a review! You helped make it an exceptional week for me!
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Posted in blog tour, Giveaways, new release | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment