Back From Montana - S.D. Hegyes

Back From Montana!!!

It’s been a long month and I almost didn’t have this newsletter ready to send out…

I spent most of September in Montana. Long story short, my grandmother passed and left behind a house and some property to my mom and her sister. At first my aunt wanted it, but now she’s made it clear if no one else does, it should be sold.

Newsletter Send Date: Friday, September 25, 2020

I’ve always wanted to go back to Montana.

It’s always felt like home. Justin’s never lived anywhere but North Carolina, so he’s game as well. Now we’re prepping for a move to Montana. However, my mom wanted to do an assessment of the house to see what kind of shape it’s in, see what needs to be fixed before my family moves up there next spring.

So here we are!

There’s a list a mile long of small things to fix that Justin and I can handle, and there’s a shorter list of big things we’ll need to hire someone to help with. The house is over twenty years old, so that’s not surprising. It sounds like a big project (because it is), but we can do it. Justin has background working on mobile homes, so he has the know-how for most of it, and I’m really good at learning from YouTube.

Since I’ve been in the mountains the past couple of weeks, how about some mountain puns?

Yes? No? Awww…

How about a picture of the view I have from the house? That work. This will be my front yard in about six-ish months everyone, and I’m super excited about that.

Forgive the haziness of the pictures. It was pretty smokey while we were there thanks to the wildfires in California, Washington, and even some parts of Montana. Plus, I don’t have the best camera in the world using my phone.

Projects!

Like always—I mean, have you met me?—I have projects… so many projects. Here’s where each of the stand so far…

QUARANTINED WITH ANTHOLOGY

I was invited to join an anthology with the idea of writing an 8-12K short story about someone quarantined with [insert what you like]. Of course, I chose “quarantined with a dragon”, and in July, I wrote the first draft during a YouTube 10K Writing Challenge.

I’ve been fiddling with that story ever since, never fully happy with it.

Then, two days into my trip to Montana, my mom gave me an earworm that I just couldn’t get rid of. So I wrote another story that I submitted instead. I feel it’s a stronger and better tale.

DAMNED AND DANGEROUS QUARTET

The first book, Damned and Desolate, is still available through Amazon as an e-book, and if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can read it for free.

I’m hard at edits for the second book, Damned and Dangerous. I had originally wanted to get them done and the book out by the end of August, but those plans changed with the trip to Montana, so I’m no longer setting an end date. I’m slowly working through edits, and as soon as they’re done, I’ll set a pre-order date and (hopefully) I’ll have a cover reveal and pre-order link in my next newsletter. Fingers crossed.

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

In my last newsletter, I revealed two covers (Dear Satan and Night Rider) that were originally supposed to be standalone novellas, but as I wrote them, they suddenly became a series, and I have an idea for two others—one dealing with the angel, Michael, and another dealing with ol’ Saint Nick and Krampus.

I asked y’all what fonts you thought I should change the covers to so that they all matched, and I’m still waiting for the final covers of those.

FUR, TEETH, AND CLAWS

As a newsletter subscriber, y’all have been getting a free short story in every newsletter. I did a poll to find the best way to handle them, and y’all told me you’d prefer links to them rather than having the actual story in the newsletter.

Again, with the trip to Montana, this project has been shoved to the back burner, but I’m working on it.

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S.D. Hegyes Newsletter

A monthly newsletter with Day-In-The-life commentary, author resources, cool new writing tools and tips, as well as a little writing humor thrown in. An all around good read from a good friend.

7 Day Challenge

The time has come to choose my quarterly 7-day writing project. Dear Satan was the first novella to be part of the 7-Day Challenge, and I’ve quite enjoyed doing these. There are two covers and two ideas to choose from. I picked a handful of covers I felt I could write stories for and then had my two girls pick their favorites to narrow it down to two choices. Feel free to reply to this email with the story you think you’d like to read. I’ll be writing that story in seven days sometime between Oct-Dec.

Rules:

Idea chosen by newsletter subscribers (Click REPLY and let me know!)
7 days to write start-to-finish
20-30,000 words
Must use pre-made cover’s title
Series (if decided to be one) can change
Use Dean Wesley Smith’s Writing in the Dark method

This is going to be a new-ish adventure, and I hope you’re as excited about it as I am. Pick one of the covers/stories below and tell me which one I should do.

NOTE: This poll is now closed.

RAVEN'S CALL

Alyson Moore’s always fed the ravens, although she can’t remember why. And they’ve always brought her gifts in return: a few rocks to discourage purse thieves, some change for a cup of coffee, and other seemingly-random items she’d find a use for.

But now, the ravens have brought her a sword, a map, and a letter. Alyson has been chosen to bring Loki back from Midgard. All while trying to learn how to control the magic she just discovered she has.

CURATOR OF CURIOSITIES

Josephine Griffith works at Curator of Curiosities, a bookstore, and she has a talent she doesn’t tell many people about. She knows exactly what someone’s looking for when they walk into her shop—even if they don’t exactly know it themselves.

Then Brock Shaffer walks in, and for the first time, she hasn’t a clue what he could want from her or her store—and he isn’t willing to share either.

What follows is a whirlwind adventure as Josephine discovers she’s a witch with a powerful spell book in her possession and a bunch of wizards willing to do anything to get their hands on it—even murder young witches.

NOTE: This poll is now closed.

Recent Readings

It’s safe to say that my reading slump is over. I have read 20 books in the month of September so far. That’s right! Twenty. Most of them mysteries of some sort. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t have internet…

During our stay in Montana, I found a copy of this book… Well… Actually it was an omnibus collection with all four books, but that’s beside the point.

Fiction Fling

Alanna: The First Adventure

by Tamora Pierce

From Tamora Pierce, the first book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award.

“From now on I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight.”

In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way to switch places with her twin brother, Thom. Disguised as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and even her own heart.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna’s first adventure begins—one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and make her a legend in the land.

Tamora Pierce was one of my sister’s favorite authors growing up, but I didn’t read this series until I was an adult. I don’t remember why…

Anyway, it was quite fun to find the book because I read it to my girls. A chapter a night until we finished the first one in the omnibus.

I’d forgotten how much I loved the book and the way Pierce wrote her characters and descriptions. It was a fun read for everyone, and the girls can’t wait to start the next one!

Dragonling Archives

Read past issues of S.D. Hegyes Newsletter for a glimpse into her writing past and future, along with her plans and dreams. Follow along the Indie Path and experience the fun and frustration of being an Indie Author!