A new Indie champion

Those of us who know firsthand the challenges of getting a novel published owe a big thank you today to Jessica Park. The New Hampshire woman penned an excellent piece, How Amazon Saved My Life, for the Indie Reader blog. Park is the author of several novels, including Flat-Out Love and Relatively Famous.

A very special graduate

Here's a shout-out to my amazing daughter Amy, a contributor to The Mine, who graduated from high school yesterday as one of several valedictorians. Her inspiring journey through public education is chronicled in a feature article that ran yesterday in the Helena Independent Record. You're the best, Amy. We love you!

Planetary alignment of 2000

One of the nice things about writing fiction is that you can create events to fit a narrative. Need a snowstorm to disrupt a Fourth of July picnic? Well, dial one up! Readers won't care. If your story takes place in a colder part of the world, like Montana, you won't even have to push the boundaries of plausibility. Indeed, you may not have to invent at all. In the opening chapter of The Mine, protagonist Joel Smith closely follows a TV news report about an alignment of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn on May 29, 2000. The celestial event sends him hurtling back to 1941. In this case, fiction followed fact by only three weeks. The six planets fell into a rough alignment with each other, the Sun, and our moon on May 5, 2000. The configuration was the first of its kind in 38 years but resulted in nothing more calamitous than a few news cycles of scientific commentary. More information on the May 5 happening and its predecessors can be found at NASA.gov. The planets will not do an encore for another 426 years.

Romance Writer's Reads

Author and blogger Elise Marion The Mine today in The Romance Writer's Reads. Elise is the author of My Ex-Wife's Wedding, available at this site.

In pursuit of historical accuracy

Do facts matter in fiction? They do in historical fiction and in instances where anachronisms and inconsistencies can be serious distractions. My quest to 'get it right' in The Mine is chronicled today in a guest post on Manic Readers. The blog will run an author interview on June 26.

'To Read or Not to Read'

Does time travel have a moral and ethical component? It does if you are Joel Smith, the protagonist of The Mine. Read about his challenges in my guest post at To Read or Not to Read today. The blog also ran an author interview on April 18.

A Seattle reviewer's take

"Heldt does a good job of weaving historical events into people's lives, and the reader really gets a feel for who Joel is, as well as some depth into the other characters." — Norelle Done, Seattle Wrote

Read Norelle's entire review of The Mine at Seattle Wrote, which the blogger calls "a combination of insight into the thoughts and stories of local Seattle authors and writers, and a compilation of tips, resources, opportunities, and goings-on in the literary world." My thanks to Ms. Done for expanding the boundaries of Washington  to western Montana and providing me with a new means to reach readers in her area. My author interview runs May 15.

USA TODAY reviews The Mine

"With an irresistible, ironic humor and an obvious appreciation of history — and a few I-didn't-see-that-coming surprises — Heldt has written a tender, refreshing and thought-provoking romance guaranteed to entertain." — Kathy Altman

A long-awaited review of The Mine appeared today in the online edition of USA TODAY. You can read Kathy Altman's article in Happy Ever After, a blog that covers romance books and authors.

A cover image explained

Since the release of my novel, The Mine, in February, a few readers have asked about the image on the cover. Is that a real mine? Is it located in Montana? The answers are yes and no. The illustration is a modified photograph of the San Cristobal Mine, an abandoned mercury mine near San Jose, California. The landmark is a popular stop for hikers and mountain bikers in the Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Many thanks to Steve Jurvetson for providing the original photograph and to my illustrator, Cannon Colegrove, for turning it into an eye-catching cover.