News from Heidi

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (Algonquin Books) is largely set in Portland, OR. Check out this interactive map of some of the places mentioned in the book. If you click on each location, you'll find an excerpt from the book that mentions the location. Have you been to any of these places too? (Zoom in to see the specific locations by pressing the "+" sign in the upper-left corner until you see 8 blue diamonds, one for each location with a different excerpt.)

Got a copy of the hardcover copy of the book today, AND a copy of the audio version (stay tuned for a giveaway next week). I don't have time to tell you more. I am jubilating and doing a happy muppet dance.

The last animal you might want to no-a-bout (read know about) before you read The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is the moa (read mo-a). The moa was a flightless bird of New Zealand that looked something like an ostrich.The moa was hunted into extinction.

Now, what do these extinct animals have to do with the book? Full disclosure: they are not characters in the book.  But they are all subjects of paintings created by the character Aunt Loretta.  My friend, the talented artist and sculptor Bethany Fancher, introduced me to these animals from her work which you can learn more about at her website and for sale here.

The quagga is an extinct species of zebra. Okay, now what the heck does the quagga or the thylacine have to do with The Girl Who Fell From the Sky?  Well, tune in tomorrow for Fun Fact 40 (I like the alliteration of that) and find out!

Maybe you've never seen a thylacine, but it will help when you read the book to know what one is: Thylacine - "the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Virtually wiped out in the wild due to constant hunting (they were thought to be a threat to sheep and other small farm animals) and the encroachment of humans on their already limited habitat, the Thylacine was finally recognized as being in danger of becoming extinct in 1936, but much too late." The thylacine is considered extinct. 

If you haven't already, check out the iTunes iMix I made for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. It's a compilation of all the songs I listened to while writing the book. But some of the songs not sold on iTunes didn't make it into the iMix. Here's a podcast of the lost Danish songs. I hope you enjoy the music!  (By the way, that is a leverpostej sandwich.  If you listen to the podcast, you'll know how it's sort of related to the music.)

So, in the past few days, I've produced a movie and two podcasts for this countdown and I admit: I'm wondering how I can top myself now. What else can I tell you about the book and the creative process? I've got 43 days to go--so you tell me: what do you want to know?

I recently talked with popular YouTube vlogger Tiffany Jones of the Mulatto Diaries about The Girl Who Fell From the Sky after she read it. Here's an un-edited audio version of the interview. Video to follow soon.  Remember don't miss a single podcast by subscribing on itunes.  Just click on the link on the right.  It's free.

I mentioned a few posts back that the Grandma Doris character isn't much like my real grandmother except for the jokes. But then I realized you don't know either one of them yet! So, let me introduce you to my real grandmother with this short film--and when you read the book you can decide whether the two ladies are similar or not. (And by the way: Happy New Year!) My Real Grandma(mp4 file). You can also watch the movie here--I've embedded below.

My Real Grandmother from Heidi Durrow on Vimeo.

Every writer needs a website! Consider getting a website part of the writing. (That's why it's part of my countdown.)   Your website is essential  and the sooner you have it up and running the better-- after the query letter, it's the first thing people see about you. I was very glad to have the great web designers of Juxtaprose.com design and build my website. Jay and Anastasia have built dozens of great writer websites. Listen to this interview with them about what you, as a writer, should look for in a web designer and website. This is part of my on-going podcasts about the journey to publication and on the road with the book tour. Subscribe on itunes. It's free!