Heartbeat Interrupted, Book Two of the Heartbeat Series Coming Soon

I am excited to announce news about my second novel in the Heartbeat Series. My new publisher, Seiders House Publishing, is releasing Heartbeat Interrupted this fall. Follow Diana's journey which continues where Between Heartbeats left off.


Kidnapped from the hospital nursery, Diana Baker concentrates on bonding with her newly-found birth parents. Her family seeks to bring Roberta Baker, the nurse who had stolen Diana and raised her for eighteen years, to justice. Diana, eager to begin a new life, struggles with Roberta’s intrusions and pressure from her boyfriend to make a commitment. What will she do to stay true to her heart while legal entanglements and emotional tug-of-wars threaten to tear her family apart?

Stay tuned for updates and links to purchase in paperback and Kindle.

Interview on Eleanor Parker Sapia's Blog: The Writing Life

Today I have the privilege of being the guest author on Eleanor Parker Sapia's blog: The Writing Life. Becoming a writer doesn't happen overnight. For me it has been a life-long process. Eleanor's insightful questions helped me to come out of my shell and talk about a variety of topics and how writing has opened a whole new world for me.

Enjoy!
The Writing Life Blog by Eleanor Parker Sapia

Writing Sequels - The Promise of More to Come

After completing my first novel, Between Heartbeats, I decided to write a three-part series. Publishers love it and if the reader enjoys the first book, it is likely he/she will stay with the author. It's a win-win!

The cover reveal for Heartbeat Interrupted will be coming soon. It is the sequel to Between Heartbeats and Book Two of the Heartbeat Series. It is in the hands of my editor and if the schedule goes as planned Heartbeat Interrupted will be available on Amazon and in local bookstores through Seiders House Publishing shortly after the first of the year.

I am about halfway through the first draft of Book Three in the Heartbeat Series. It is a departure from the first two in that my heroine, Diana, who is twenty years older, finds herself enmeshed in a baffling mystery surrounding an estate built during the Civil War era. There are many supernatural qualities to it, so it is a Gothic/Urban Fantasy.

I love writing, because I'll never be too old to write; I won't have to retire or wonder what to do in my spare time. 

Donelle Knudsen's Amazon page

A Writer's Journey

I'm giving a big thank you and a shout-out to Susan Faw for granting me an interview. Today's author spotlight is shining on Donelle Knudsen! http://susanfaw.com/2016/06/author-spotlight-donelle-knudsen/

Author Spotlight - Donelle Knudsen - SUSAN FAW susanfaw.com Today’s author spotlight has found Donelle Knudsen, the native Oregonian wandering the dusty trails ...

Between Heartbeats Re-publication

Author update: To turn a phrase, I learned how to change sour lemons into sweet lemonade when my publisher closed its doors in May. After experiencing an interesting month, I’m happy to announce my novel, Between Heartbeats, is back on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. The Kindle price is $2.99 and the paperback edition is now $12.95. I extinguished this unexpected blip and have resumed writing Book Two of the Heartbeat Series. I plan to release the title and cover this fall, and anticipate its publication in December 2016. 

Between-Heartbeats-Donelle-Knudsen


My future publisher posted this link yesterday and I just had to share it, too.

http://www.seidershousepublishing.com/donelle-knudsen-between-heartbeats/

My novel, Between Heartbeats, is featured in the Fanfare section of Portland State Magazine's Winter 2016 edition.

http://www.pdx.edu/magazine/news/fanfare-winter-2016

My novel, Between Heartbeats Kindle edition, is FREE - Today, January 18 through January 20 download on Amazon links: Between Heartbeats Kindle edition is FREE today, January 18-20 download on Amazon:

Debut of Donelle Knudsen's novel, Between Heartbeats

For the latest on my newly released novel, "Between Heartbeats" and memoir, "Through the Tunnel of Love..." view my Amazon Author page.



http://www.amazon.com/Donelle-Knudsen/e/B004X31KDQ
Amazon Author Central - Donelle Knudsen

Booktrope novel - Between Heartbeats

My #booktrope #novel Between Heartbeats #Kindle will be available August 28 on #Amazon and #paperback in September.

Take a look ... stay tuned for more.

Here's a "teaser" from my novel, Between Heartbeats, which will be released in August 2015 through Booktrope Publishing.

Coming Soon - My First Novel - Between Heartbeats

Synopsis of my novel to be released summer of 2015. Stay tuned for more!

Can life change between heartbeats? Diana awakens on her seventeenth birthday in a joyful mood. But at breakfast she is told, during a heated argument with her mother, that the man she has loved as her father is not her father at all. Diana decides to unravel the mystery of her childhood and the reason for their secrets and travels across the country to visit her step-father. And so, Diana begins a journey where she discovers shocking truths hidden just beneath the surface. To further complicate her summer, she meets Kevin Wright, a college junior. When Kevin vanishes without a trace, Diana learns family is more than shared DNA and discovers who will help her when it appears all hope is gone. In Donelle Knudsen's Young Adult novel, Between Heartbeats, a young woman's quest to find her roots enables her to discover love and the power of forgiveness.

"Between Heartbeats"

Two years ago I pitched my idea for a Young Adult novel, Between Heartbeats, while attending Write On The River writers' conference in Wenatchee, WA. The agent's response was encouraging and helpful, and so the journey began. Fast-forward to one year ago at the same conference when I seriously pitched my novel to a representative from a publishing house. Again, not only was the individual encouraging, but she asked me to submit the entire manuscript upon completion.

Here I am today, April 8, 2015 with a completed novel under my belt. The process has not been easy, but with diligence and with the help of my critique group, family, and my beta-reader, I sent it off to the publisher a couple of hours ago. Now the wait. Will they like it? Will they want to publish it? Time will tell.

How do I feel? It feels similar to when I sent my kids off to school on their very first day. I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride and hoped they were as ready for the next step in their journey as I was. 

Whatever happens next, I can say, I DID IT. The goal was set and the book is finished. What next? I'm already working on the sequel.

Skeletons in the Closet

October brings a dramatic change in the weather; the air chills, trees begin their shift from soft and vibrant greens to yellows, brown, red, and orange, and the sun sets earlier. As an adult I miss the nice warm days, but as a child I was more excited that Halloween was just around the corner. In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, this year I received some information about a deceased relative, news that surprised and saddened me: a true skeleton in the closet.

My mother's cousin is our family historian and genealogy expert. I am the writer of our group and often use her findings for short stories or character types. However, with her recently discovered facts, I'm not sure how, when, or where to use it. Growing up I idolized this person and admired him for his strength, skill at overcoming adversities, and for his myriad accomplishments. I still do, but realize he was only human and made some serious errors in judgement, not earth shattering ones, but mistakes all the same.

On the tenth anniversary of my mother's death, I wrote a short story about the days immediately following her passing. It was cathartic, and helped me to understand Mother, myself, and our fractured relationship. In the story, I revealed our family tree included a Salem, Massachusettes' witch who was hanged during the trials. Her inclusion was appropriate and enhanced the mood of the scene by adding punch to the subject of death. I do believe in the unusual, the supernatural, the unexplained, the things that make your skin crawl and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

So I will include some of our family's flawed characteristics and a sampling of their unexplainable actions in future short stories. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Stay tuned... 

Update: I did include some of the above subjects in my novel, Between Heartbeats, which was released in August 2015

Ship in a Bottle

The first time I saw a sailing ship sitting in a small glass bottle, I was a child. I couldn't believe my eyes and asked my father to explain it. To the best of his ability, he explained how this feat was done, and I was awed by it. I still am.

Writing is something like building a ship in a bottle; the writer constructs an idea which is transformed into words, sentences, and paragraphs to form a story, poem, or a book. Certain confines and accepted parameters should be followed in order to create a cohesive, readable piece that not only entertains, but instructs the reader as well.

Thinking about a delicate, intricately constructed ship sitting within a solid glass container reminds me of my book, which was carefully crafted, strung together with my heart and soul, and endless hours of creating and editing. When it was finally inserted between the covers of a book, my "ship" was complete and ready to launch.

My first book was purely a practice piece and I kept it in the family. Then, I switched to poems and short stories and found I loved the challenge of getting to the point in as few words as possible. My second book, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia published in April of 2011, was born from a labor of love. And now I can say I am a novelist. My Booktrope novel, Between Heartbeats, was published August 28, 2015. It is the story of a young girl's coming of age.

Think about creating your own ship in a bottle, in whatever form you choose. I assure you that it will be one of the most worthwhile and rewarding things you can do in life.

Inspiration Comes From Unexpected Places

To my thinking, writers connecting with writers, either online or face-to-face, is imperative. Writers take on a lonely business, armed only with a pen and blank sheet of paper, or computer screen, and our imaginations. The wonderful thing is that these elements, combined with research and the desire to create, can take us as far as our minds and stamina are able.

So far this year I have attended one writers conference where I gained information and inspiration and submitted five entries to writing contests; however, my critique group is on hiatus, so my impetus to create something new every week has stalled. Add vacations, family time, and a recent surgery, and the result: my weeks have been chopped up into fragments with precious little to show.

One thing I always make time for is reading, and writing ideas down as they come, often at the oddest times. The most recent quote I wrote down is by Frodo Baggins from one of Peter Jackson's films in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien:  "He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam, but it did." Context: Frodo is speaking to his comrade, Sam, after Gandalf's untimely death in the underground caves. Their future looks bleak, because the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring has seemingly perished, and their grief is so deep that they fear the worst: utter defeat.

Frodo's observation gave me the inspiration to bring out a writing project I had been working on for six months, but put aside because it had become too difficult, too painful to continue. It was inspired by a true life situation that has caused our family much pain and stress over the last year. But from experience, I have learned that those are the best kinds of projects to tackle, because challenges, the hard things in life, are what make us stronger, teach us valuable lessons, and result in inspired writing.

So, thank you, Frodo, for reminding me that life isn't always easy, and to remember that I should never give up and to not admit defeat, no matter how daunting the task that lies ahead.

Potter-Mania

My daughter and I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two last weekend and thought it was a fitting and beautifully told conclusion to a book series that may have changed the course of juvenile reading habits forever. Throughout my lifetime, I have always been in love with the written word. My tastes are eclectic; I tend to read suspense, the classics and memoir. But I was drawn to the Potter series shortly after its publication.

Harry has taught us many lessons, I believe. When faced with loss of family, an unhappy home life, challenging surrounds which are fraught with danger, and the ultimate forces of evil, he drew upon the friendship and loyalty of good friends and the love and support, albeit from another realm, of his parents.

From my perspective, I believe if one lives long enough, tough times and even powerful adversaries will cross our path. Presently, our family is dealing with the darker side of human nature and are experiencing first hand how selfish and dishonest people can turn your life upside down.

As I watched Harry and his comrades face the ultimate force of evil, I admired how they handled adversity and even the injury and death of friends and loved ones. They were uncertain and fearful, but willing to jump in and DO something.

Was Harry naive? Perhaps at times, but I like to think that beyond his disarming crooked grin, lay a strong individual who could face seemingly impossible challenges and come out a winner.

So, as our family deals with a negative presence that has temporarily disrupted our lives, I take heart in our fictional Harry, who has entertained and inspired so many people for so many years. Thank you, Ms. Rowling and happy reading to her millions of fans.