Royalties

It has been brought to my attention that Dear Author has an interview with Harlequin about their changes to the royalty system. Have a read!

I find it really interesting that an author gets so little for their work!
I understand that authors have to pay the cost for cover artists, marketing and publishing, but still - the publishing company gets heaps, money they wouldn't get without the authors work in the first place!

What is your opinion on it?

Friday Writer

This week's theme is Love Hurts! Click on the image to go to the Romantic Friday Writer site for details!

This week your MCs have a dilemma to solve. Maybe both MCs are facing a crisis point in their relationship, and one or the other decides to resolve the problem in the only way they know how. Perhaps an MC has chosen to confide in a third party, their advice invaluable. Or, a misread/misdirected text/email has caused angst, heartache and bitterness, where a simple explanation can heal a fast-breaking heart. 

From my Princess story. I wrote this for a blog post a while ago - sorry, i haven't had a chance to write something new!:

He'd used her. To gain access to power he'd actually done as she'd asked, changed her world, her whole perspective on sex, love, everything. And he'd had another agenda all along.

The pain in her chest was crushing and she bent over clutching her heart, gasping for air.

How could she have been so stupid? She'd let down her guard, let him in and he wasn't what she'd thought.

But it had all seemed so real. The looks, the touches, the words. But that's all they'd been. Shallow reflections of what she'd always been looking for, wondering, had thought she'd found.

But her first theory had been right. Fairytales were for books, not real life.

It crushed her, devastating her with the sharpness of his betrayal. With the discovery of the world's biggest lie.

How could he do this to her? He'd said he cared for her. Every look, touch, every time he'd spoken to her his eyes had been filled with... oh, she was a fool. She'd probably imagined the soft affection in his eyes.

He'd taught her that sex could be fantastic, mind-blowing. But for him it had been a means to power.

And for her? For her it had been everything. She'd given him her heart and he'd taken it, enmeshed it in his lies and now she was broken.

With a deep breath Tori steeled herself. Like hell she was going to take it lying down. She was through being treated like a non-entity by men.

Rising from the damp grass at the edge of the lake she ignored the chill in her jeans and strode with increasing purpose across the Castle estate to find him.

Click on the image above to see what other Friday Writer's have written!

Would you pass up a free book?

No?
Well neither are hundreds of other people!
The Arrival by Nicole MacDonald is FREE on amazon in kindle!
If you were unsure if you wanted to buy it before, now is your chance to get it for free - nothing lost, if it's not your thing. But, i can tell you that you will enjoy it!

The Blurb:

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress.  Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain. Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'.  Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize.

Go on! Grab your copy today, and don't forget to help Nicole out by posting a review on Amazon, or drop by her blog and tell her your thoughts!

And, if you like it, you will be pleased to know Nicole has nearly finished her first draft of the sequel The Awakening!

Holiday = unproductive writing-wise

So i've had three weeks holiday between semesters and you'd have thought i would have capitalised on the opportunity to write? Right?!

Nope. For the first week, i read three books on my TBR (To be read) pile. Second week i did a bit of housework (a very little bit!), and read two more books.

And this week that's sped by superfast? I DID do some writing, but only on Monday. After fluffing about reading what i'd previously written and making some minor changes, i think i managed about 600 words.
But, i did some critiquing. Have read through some of Nicole MacDonald's second book in her trilogy, and people! It gets so much better! Promises the same unique POV style that is only Nicole, more tension, more fantastical animals, more twists, more everything! I am prowling my inbox for the next part!!

Tomorrow starts my last week of the break, so i am going to write everyday! Then send off my stuff to critique partners and friends for feedback so far.

What do you do when you have a break? Write, read? Nothing?
Sometimes it is great to do nothing. I think i was mostly trying to stay away from the computer. My early childhood study course is online - we have to have a presence every day, so yeah. I was getting away from the computer. But, back to it this week...

Birthday Winner

Okay, so after putting the names into the hat for another draw....


Francine Howarth please contact me for your prize! kerrinhearfield AT hotmail DOT com

My Birthday...and Winner!

Subservient Husband you are the winner of my mystery present! Woohoo! Please email me at kerrinhearfield AT hotmail DOT com with your address!

I had a fantastic day. I treated the ladies at playgroup with some yummy carrot cake muffins complete with cream cheese icing.
Then after dropping my daughter off to a friends' i went shopping! Just for me!
This is so rare. Usually i wistfully glance at the things i'd love to browse through/try on whilst shopping for the kids. So with birthday money burning my bank account i had a blast! A few tops, pair of boots and some bling later...
I returned home at the same time as hubby. We went cake and wine shopping, rented a dvd then picked up the kids (My fantastic friend had both my kids after school and kindy!).
Oh, i felt so spoilt!

Birthday - and a contest!

It's my birthday in 6 days (June7) and i'm excited!

I always feel like a kid when it's my birthday and i don't care that i'm going to be another day older!
The kids are excited and have been making me cards for a week now - i'm going to have so many lovely things to put away - and i hope i don't have to cook dinner on that day.

Do you like birthdays? Yours?
What's the most memorable birthday you have had?

I'll check the comments right up until the 7th then draw out a random winner for a special surprise from NZ! (Will obviously contact you for address!)