Fridays: Fun Fluff & Other Stuff

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

Welcome!

It’s Friday. It’s July (my fav month) and I’m launching a new weekly feature, introducing an author friend and asking them all manner of unwriterly things.

This week it’s Sarah Hegger, author of The Bride Gift, an Amazon #1 Bestseller.

After this fun & fluffy interview, she’s going to tell you a bit about her next medieval book, Sweet Bea. She’s releasing it September 1st, but you can pre-order it right now.

 

 

Getting to Know You:

 

What did you have for breakfast? Yoplait 100 calorie Greek Yoghurt (to counter the pizza)

What are you wearing? Shorts and a tee-shirt. It’s 100 degrees out there.

When was the last time you cried? On the weekend.

What was your favorite Hallowe’en costume? A sexy witch I made for myself.

What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Arms, yum!

 

The Good/The Bad

 

Fav fruit: Cherries

Fav dessert: Ice cream (Haagen Dazs), oh and baked cheesecake

Fav color: Green

Fav sport: Cricket

Fav flower: Iris

 

Jason Kelly

 

Worst habit: Drinking out of the bottle/carton

Worst movie: Last Exit to Brooklyn (great movie but so depressing I couldn’t shake it)

Worst food: Fish Blech! Yuck!

Worst alcoholic drink: Pretty much all of them

Worst vacation: Montreal at Christmas 16 years ago, freezing cold and no snow

 

This or That:

 

Soup or salad: Soup

Fame or fortune: Yes, please

New York or LA: New York

Jeans or yoga pants: Yoga Pants

Mac or PC: Mac

Twitter or facebook: Twitter

Manicure or pedicure: Pedicure

Dogs or cats: Dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs

Nightie or Pj’s: PJ’s

Coffee or tea: Coffee (when my husband makes it for me.)

 

The Really Important Things:

 

Polly C.

What store do you shop at the most? Nordstrom (I have a shoe thing)

If you could be any (other) nationality, what would it be? Spanish

You own a yacht. What do you call it? Amanzi (Zulu word for water)

What’s your favorite sports car? E-Type Jaguar

Do you let your sig other buy jewelry for you on their own or help them pick it out? He has great taste in jewelry.

 

More This or That (Just ‘Cause They’re So Much Fun):

 

Thanksgiving or July 4^th: Thanksgiving

Morning or night: Night

Summer or winter: SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla

Print or ebook: ebook

Rock or pop music: Rock

Heels or sneakers: Heels

Europe or the Caribbean: Both

Wealth or health: Health

Fly or be invisible at will: Invisibility.

 

 

Who am I?

 

Sarah Hegger

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Draper, Utah, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

 

She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

 

Sweet Bea

 

Lyrical Press

Is anything sweeter than revenge?

 

In a family of remarkable people, ordinary Beatrice strives to prove herself worthy. When her family is threatened with losing everything, she rushes to London to save them. Unfortunately, she chooses as her savior the very man who will see her family brought low.

Garrett has sworn vengeance on Sir Arthur of Anglesea for destroying his life when he was a boy and forcing his mother into prostitution for them to survive. He has chosen as his instrument Sir Arthur’s youngest daughter, Beatrice.

Can Beatrice’s goodness teach Garrett that love, not vengeance, is the greatest reward of all?

 

 

Available for preorder on Amazon

 

Thanks so much Sarah. Fun getting to know the author behind the great stories. Please leave a comment below of you liked this feature.

Cover Reveal for “Sweet Bea” from Chart Topping Author Sarah Hegger

Sharing in the joy of someone you love and admire is delightful, sweet, and calorie free. In fact, I’m convinced it’s actually slimming. So I’m pumped and primed to introduce the Cover Reveal of dear friend and Critique Partner Sarah Hegger’s upcoming release, Sweet Bea.

Sarah’s a rising star, with her debut medieval romance The Bride Gift hovering at the top of the Amazon chart in the Ancient History Fiction and Medieval categories. Sweet Bea is the kind of book that stays with you, long after “The End.” I’m still in love with Garrett, (and I hated him at first!) and will forever see the Sweet Bea in myself and my closest female friends and family.

Without further adieu, take it away, Sarah:

Thanks for having me, Kim. Kim has the unenviable task of reading multiple drafts before they get to my publisher. And she is always so kind and supportive through it. She’s the best! But I can’t share her, because she’s mine, all mine.

And yes, Garrett is a bad, bad boy with a nasty hidden agenda. I can’t wait to show you the match up of Sweet, sweet Bea and Bad boy Garrett.

Is anything sweeter than revenge?

In a family of remarkable people, ordinary Beatrice strives to prove herself worthy. When her family is threatened with losing everything, she rushes to London to save them. Unfortunately, she chooses as her savior the very man who will see her family brought low.

Garrett has sworn vengeance on Sir Arthur of Anglesea for destroying his life when he was a boy and forcing his mother into prostitution for them to survive. He has chosen as his instrument Sir Arthur’s youngest daughter, Beatrice.

Can Beatrice’s goodness teach Garrett that love, not vengeance, is the greatest reward of all?

 

Sarah’s Bio:

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

 

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

 

She currently lives in Draper, Utah, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

I love to hear from readers and you can find me at any of the places below.

 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Thanks so much Sarah! You can also download Sarah’s debut release, The Bride Gift on Amazon here: 

What Makes a Good Medieval Romance?

My dear friend and critique partner Sarah Hegger released her first book The Bride Gift this past Wednesday on Amazon. It’s an eBook through SoulMate Publishing. Here’s the url:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bride-Gift-Sarah-Hegger-ebook/dp/B00KBAYOTM

 

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

I loved it through its various stages. Helena, her heroine is goodly fierce and Guy her hero is as steadfast a knight as ever there was. It’s not fair for me to review it, being as close to both Sarah and her product, but I was thrilled to see other reviewers give it the 5 stars on Amazon it deserves. One of the reviewers mentioned The Bride Gift was the first medieval (she) had read.

Which brought me to my lead question. (see above) Elements of a good Medieval Romance:

Well, you’ve got to have a castle.

And a girl, either in the castle wanting to get out (like Rapunzel) or on the outside, wanting to get in (like Cinderella). Although in Sarah’s story, Helena is in the castle, in charge and desperate to keep it that way.

 

And a guy (Sir Guy, in the Bride Gift) who probably prevents her from doing so in the beginning, but ends up on her side by the end. It’s always nice if he’s a knight or some sort of chivalrous fellow. Because so many of the men during those times were downright dangerous. Which brings us to the next item on the list:

There’s got to be a villain. Preferably one who is depraved in some way (wicked, murdering Ranulf in The Bride Gift) and completely irredeemable.

 

Since it’s a historical, the facts and time period woven in should be sturdy. The backdrop for The Bride Gift is “1153, in the period dubbed ‘The Anarchy’,” when “King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.” The dressing (gowns, armor and mail) and setting (solars, castle keeps, forests and fighting fields) are all part of the enchanting backdrop.

 

Lastly, it’s the relationship between the hero and heroine, isn’t it? The hero’s got to do knightly things, like scale a tower to access his lady love (First scene, first chapter, The Bride Gift), fight off the bad guys (check) and rescue someone (not necessarily the heroine) or something (it could be a basket of kittens). The heroine must display strength and spirit (so many good possibilities in The Bride Gift, and so many spoiler alerts). And the author twines them together (willing or no—not willing in this case) showing how they are better off.

Yes. I am biased when it comes to my author gal-pal, Sarah Hegger’s new release, The Bride Gift. I think it’s awesome. And I’m not the only one. It’s a downloadable romp worthy of your time. Check it out. And let me know if you do! 😉

Cover Reveal – Sarah Hegger

Today I have the tremendous pleasure of unveiling the stunning cover for THE BRIDE GIFT, the upcoming debut from Soul Mate author Sarah Hegger. You may recognize her from the Romance Weekly blog chats. She’s really quite a brilliant author. Without further adieu, I’ll let Sarah tell you all about her new book! 

It’s 1153 in the period dubbed ‘The Anarchy’, King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.

Determined to control her own destiny, wilful Helena of Lystanwold has chosen just the husband to suit her purposes. But, when her banished guardian uncle attempts to secure her future and climbs through her bedroom window with a new husband by a proxy marriage, she understandably balks. Notorious warrior Guy of Helston is everything Helena swore she would never marry; a man who lives by the sword, like the man who murdered her sister.

This marriage finally brings Guy close to his lifetime dream of gaining lands and a title. He is not about to let his feisty bride stand in his way. A master strategist, Guy sets out to woo and conquer his lady.

 Against a backdrop of vengeance, war and betrayal, Guy and Helena must learn to forge a united front or risk losing everything.

 This is my very first cover and it marks one of those milestones for me as a writer. I’m still struggling to get past my name on the cover.

 Feel free to tell me what you think.

 Or drop by and see me on:

Website

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About Sarah Hegger: Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Salt Lake City with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

Thanks, Sarah! Please come back to visit when your book is released. We’d love to help you celebrate!  The Bride Gift is set to hit Amazon on May 14th, 2014.