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

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/

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.

My "Between Heartbeats" Release Party is a virtual online event to be held on the event page link below. It begins August 1 at 6:00 am PDT, 9:00 am EDT, but if that's too early, you can log in a little later. Pour a cup of coffee and sit comfortably on your couch with your iPad, phone, laptop, or at your computer. 

Join in on the fun. "Meet" me, learn more about my book, interact with other readers and writers, and enter to win prizes: free paperback copy, e-book, gift card. 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1603288019955297/

Signed, Sealed, and To Be Delivered

The wait is over! After a year and a half of diligently writing, editing, and sharing my manuscript with my critique group, BETWEEN HEARTBEATS has been accepted by Booktrope publishers. 

My first book, a memoir, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia, was released April 2011. I must say, the feeling is as good, if not better the second time around.

I "found" Booktrope through Write on the River's writers' conference hosted in Wenatchee, WA just one year ago. I can't say the year has flown by, but I'm positive the next few weeks will as I have so many things to accomplish to get my project out the door.

You may keep up with the latest on my Twitter account: @donelleknudsen or my Author Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/DonelleMKnudsen

Have a wonderful week and don't set boundaries for yourselves.

"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.

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.

Autumn - A Time for Reflection

Now that fall is in the air, I find myself spending more time inside with a good book or at my computer desk. I am reworking my novel that I started in 2005, and set aside to percolate while I wrote my memoir, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia. It was published in April. Check it out on Amazon.com or read the prologue on my website: www.authorsden.com/donelleknudsen

So now I'm ready to complete my suspense novel; and as I sit by the fireplace and feel the warmth of the coals, I raise my coffee cup and cheer the change in seasons! Happy Fall.