Greetings

[Heather]

Hello all!

I've recently finished writing my first novel, 'The Inbetween', and was searching through possible literary agents when I came across this site. The community sounds like a warm and welcome space for writers, so here I am!

A few things about myself...I'm an independent film maker based in Essex, U.K. I am originally from the USA and have been living on and off in both countries for the past 17 years! Three years ago I was living in the US, when I was diagnosed with M.S. A few month later I returned with my two girls and our eleven pets and resettled in the UK. As you might imagine there is a lot more to this story, and one day I might even get around to writing it! But at the moment, I have my hands full with my ideas for fiction!

If you get a moment and have any interest you can check out my website which has a few of my earlier short films here...
www.heatherkthompson.com

Wishing you all the best and looking forward to getting to know some of you!

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Welcome Heather. Certainly sounds like an interesting story and rings a few bells of similarity. I have an American partner and we prefer the UK. Look forward to reading and watching some of your work.

 

[Heather]

Hi Alistair, Thanks for the welcome. I checked out your facebook page, do you write pros as well as poetry? Your book Ceridwen and the Order of the Future Keepers looks interesting. Another similarity, there are two dragons in The Inbetween! When I sat down to write the final chapter of the book, I had such a vivid picture of what it looked like in my mind that I just had to create this 3D art to share with others. What part of America does your partner come from?

 

[Jennifer Stone]

Welcome Heather, it's good to see so many new faces around here

 

[Heather]

Hi Jennifer, thanks for the welcome. I saw your reference to your hybrids novel. Are you a fantasy writer?

 

[Jennifer Stone]

Hi Jennifer, thanks for the welcome. I saw your reference to your hybrids novel. Are you a fantasy writer?

Trying to be lol, my first manuscript 'The Mortal Orphan' is currently getting edited, which has put 'Hybrids' on a back burner for the moment. Feel free to check out my website http://jcstoneauthor.wix.com/jcstone it's a little basic atm, but i'm hoping to add to it soon.

 

[Heather]

checked out your site, nice! A good introduction to what interests you, your work and where you're at. I am a lover of fantasy and although I write in multiple genres, fantasy, sci fi is where my heart lies. The hybrid story line is one that I believe is popular in publishing right now. I am interested to see where you go with it. If you get a chance I've posted my web address above!

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Hi Heather. TOOTFK (shorter than 'the order of the future keepers') has (like the other novels) one main dragon, but there are others that fill very minor roles. My partner comes from Portland Oregon, which seems quite a pretty area, never been there myself, so looking forward to seeing it next month. Hope you enjoy this friendly site.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

PS Love the picture.

 

[Heather]

Thanks Portland, Oregon...I am from Portland, Maine! I hope you have an awesome visit there. How long will you visit? Thanks for the clarification on the dragons...Is there somewhere we can read excerpts from fellow writers on this site?

 

[Emurelda]

Welcome Heather. Lovely picture and so envious that you've finished your novel. Am almost at the end of my first draft. Have you started submissions yet?

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello

 

[Meerkat]

Welcome, Heather! I'm interested in the 11 pets part. Who owns you?

 

[Marc Joan]

Welcome! As per Meerkat, 11 pets sounds challenging. Did they need quarantining when you brought them in?

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Portland Oregon was named after Portland Maine I believe. Not sure how long we will stay there, a few months I suspect. As for excerpts of writings, there are none here until the "Houses" are set up, as at the moment it is open to the public and there's a risk of work being copied, where-as the "Houses" would be visible to members only as I understand it.

 

[James Marinero]

Hi Heather, welcome - I'm sure that your visual arts perspective will be appreciated here and you will get plenty of writing advice in return.

 

[Heather]

Hi Emurelda, thanks for the welcome. Almost at the end is also a good place to be, have just started my next work, although this one is going to be a feature film, and I'm only in the research phase so , see you're already ahead of me! Seriously though, no I haven't started submissions yet as I am finishing drawing up the top five agents I want to submit to and then finishing a synopsis. I have a long synopsis version but trying to rewrite it so that it's just one page is a challenge. (And I already changed the page margins to narrow!) I am really happy with my polished draft. My only concern is the low word count. Its only 52, 877. From what I've seen a lot of publishers will consider anything above 50,000 and the story is really complete, so no point trying to fluff it out as it feels right, and pacing is right, as it is. It would make a fairly short book, but I was slightly encouraged to find a Nicolas Spark book on the shelf that was roughly the same length. Of course with his name, he can pull it off!

 

[Heather]

Tara and Katie, thanks for the hellos!

 

[Heather]

Hi Meerkat, thanks for the question! Ha ha, I think its safe to say my kids do!!! Bringing 11 pets with us meant making sacrifices and I did it for the girls! You might have enjoyed the steward's face on the plane when I asked him just before take off if he could check on my pets. He was so polite and formal as he dipped his head respectfully and asked, "Of course, Ma'am. Was it a dog or a cat?" When I responded, "Well actually its two dogs, five cats and three ferrets..." He tried, bless him, to keep his face neutral, but the shock was evident as he hurried away! (...and yes, that only equals ten, our S.American rain forest tortoise flew over later when his paperwork got sorted!)

 

[Heather]

At Marc-Joan, Yes challenging is a good word! No thankfully, I wouldn't have brought them if they did, I don't think. ..We had to do a lot of work to put everything in place before we left though. Rounds of rabies shots and health exams, paperwork for pet passports. We had to meet a federal vet after seeing our regular vet so he could confirm everything was in place...then we realized too late our tortoise didn't have the right paperwork and so a good friend of mine took him in until his papers could be sorted out several months later. My friends and family had to organize two van loads to get us all to the airport...Oh and then last minute as we were checking them all in to world cargo, we were informed that the cage we had bought for the ferrets wasn't correct (even though we had triple checked and bought one that was right for international flights, it apparently wasn't specific enough for ferrets) My youngest daughter, Rhiannon, the real animal lover melted down into tears...It was heart wrenching, we didn't even know who could take them. My oldest daughter Lindsey's best friend, Alexis, was with us, and she has a particular soft spot for Rhiannon. Now don't get me wrong, she detested our ferrets, but she offered to take them home for Rhiannon and look after them until she could find someone that would care for them. The cargo man felt so badly for us he tracked down a pet shop about thirty minutes away that had the correct cage. He said the timing would be tight but if we could buy it and get back in time, they could still make the flight. We set off in a hurry, but about fifteen minutes later we got a call asking us to return to the airport. The cargo man had placed a call to London and gotten us special permission for the ferrets to fly as they were. He said he couldn't stand to see Rhiannon so upset. (I wanted to kiss the man!!) A few days later, after we'd arrived, Rhiannon drew him a picture of the ferrets playing happily in England and sent him a thank you note. We addressed it to world cargo and I sincerely hope he got it!

 

[Heather]

Hi Alistair, that would make sense, re: the Portlands! I hope you have a fantastic time when you go and keep us updated on your journey! The houses sound like a brilliant idea. I hope they'll be in place as soon as possible!

 

[Heather]

Hi James, thanks for the kind welcome. I had a look at your website and wow! Your books look particularly fascinating to me. I am interested in the idea of China emerging as the new world super power. When did you write this novel? Very astute timing I think. I remember being in Australia just over a decade ago and my brother in law at the time mentioned that he'd seen a doctoral paper predicting the emergence of China and India as the next world super powers...

 

[Heather]

Well I really should be getting on to writing this morning...but just wanted to leave you all with this promo poster I designed for The Inbetween. I used a combination of pre-purchased 3D models as well as contributing some 2D paintwork myself...Hope you all have an amazing day.

 

[Heather]

Tara, I just checked out your website, saucy! I loved your bio! You seem like an amazing woman and a prolific author.

 

[Lex Black]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Heather]

Thank you Lex

 

[Carol Rose]

Tara, I just checked out your website, saucy! I loved your bio! You seem like an amazing woman and a prolific author.

You're sweet! Thank you.

 

[Frances Gow]

Hi Heather - thank you for an amazing intro and I'm bowled over by your ferret story and your wonderful digital art. Welcome to the colony!

 

[Meerkat]

Based on the blurb on the artwork, I would be very interested in buying your book. Good job!

I would refuse to get on a plane if I couldn't take my pets with me! Good for that cargo guy!