News from Heidi

Some fun photos from the wonderful weekend with the lovely folks of Misty Valley Books--Bill & Lynn Reed--for the New Voices weekend, my first event as a published novelist. And these wonderful authors: Deborah Copaken Kogan, Matthew Dicks, Elena Gorokhova, and James Landis. Buy their books!

Dear Reader,

If you have been following this countdown you have been treated to photos, audio interviews, songs, videos, maps, poems, passages and confessions. With just 6 more days to go, I fear that I have run out of fun facts -- or the ability to recognize them. I think this is because there has been so much good news in the last weeks about the book. It's been chosen as an Indie Next Pick for February, a Borders Original Voices pick for March, Best Book of the Month by Amazon.com for February, a "Top 10 Book of 2010" by the Boston Herald, and won Elle Magazine's Readers' Prize for March!

In the coming weeks, I will be reading & celebrating in several cities--and you'll see some national publicity for the book. (Stay tuned for more details--) So, I've decided for the last few days--I won't be looking backward but forward--and take you on the journey with me. I'd love your company!

With affection, heidi

Photo Len Lagrua

Exactly one week from today, I will celebrate the book launch of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CA. And that is my fun fact for the day!

So what am I working on now that The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is done & on the cusp of publication? Here's a hint:

I couldn't have written the book without them. That's the simple truth. I'm sure there were times during the last 13 years they wondered: what the heck is Heidi really doing? How could she give up a lucrative legal career? Is she really writing? They may have thought it, but they didn't ask me. They took me at my word that I was doing the work I needed to do. I thank them in the book acknowledgments. I thank them again here. I heart you guys! (Photo by vistamommy via Flickr.)

I walked into this whole writing thing pretty blind. I thought all I had to do was write a manuscript finished, send it out, and voila: there the book would be. This, good people, does not happen. Not even in the world of instant publishing. So first I had to figure out what my steps to publication would be (read the last post on Poets & Writers magazine). But the thing I had not realized would be so important was finding a mentor. I was lucky--my mentor found me. I entered the Associated Writing Programs Writers Conferences Contest a few years ago--and won--the judge that year? The awesome Michael Pettit. He took an interest in my work thereafter. He introduced me to my agent. He introduced me to other writers. He bolstered my confidence when it flagged, and had answers for me when I had questions. The guy is a gem. And I'm glad I sent in that application. I'm very happy to have been #114. Thank you Michael! For everything!  (Oh, and that contest deadline is March 30, 2010, this year!)

If you are a writer, or want to be, Poets & Writers magazine should be your bible. It was mine. Whenever I felt frustrated by the writing, or frustrated by the rejections from literary journals, I would turn to P&W and make a plan. The list of contest and submission deadlines gave me just a little bit of hope -- maybe these guys are hoping to find my writing in the big pile. And it gave me a deadline. Deadlines are important. So if you are out there reading this--go get your P&W now: I promise it will help!

My young protagonist, Rachel, is beautiful. And she is constantly struggling to understand what that means to other people--how it often endangers her. Rachel is nothing like me in this respect. I can see the photos and see that I was a cute kid. But I was no beauty in my teens--I was awkward-looking: crazy biracial hair, buck-teeth and a unique (at best) bohemian sensibility of style. I discovered something approaching cute at close to age 30 -- and now age 40--well, I wish I were 30 again! Proof in the pudding is this photo!

I think I'll just say this here and now: I wish my dad were alive so that he could see what's happening in my life now.

Do you remember the Vincent Price Shakespeare albums? Did I make this up? I mention them in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. I loved Vincent Price growing up ---that voice, that laugh. And I loved to listen to his Shakespeare albums. Anybody have any information for me?