May 27, 2019
Once again, welcome to my new website. Those of you who are regular visitors may notice a few changes. The content should basically be the same as many of the posts and pages were simply copied and pasted to the new site.
The new website has been a tremendous work in progress all on its own, and the switch to the .net site was not voluntary, but has been a long time coming.
Why heatherrainier.net?
The domain registration, the hosting, and the content were controlled by the IT consultant who set up my original custom website in 2010. In 2013 that site was discontinued and I was thrust into the world of WordPress. It was a tremendous headache until I became more familiar with the tools WordPress uses, and then considered it a blessing because I was in control of when and how my content was updated. For a time I didn’t worry about it as everything worked. I muddled through any issues with the site on my own.
That lasted for about a year until the host experienced an outage. I begged help from my former IT guru and received it…to an extent. Once things were back to normal I tried to ignore the worry growing in my mind about needing help from someone who didn’t really want to give it, and hating that I even had to deal with tech BS to begin with. Then the yearly outages with the host started. They took longer and longer to fix each time, until the site went down last November and stayed that way for over a month.
I’d found another IT consultant by this point and he stressed that I needed control of the domain registration and a different host, and I needed to be the one to set them up, so that I’d be the one in control. Ideally that meant just setting up the new host and having the old IT person transfer the domain registration (heatherrainier.com) to my account. I hadn’t been billed for it in years and felt certain it wouldn’t be an issue.
My husband and I both tried and tried via multiple means to ask for the transfer and never once received a reply. Over Easter weekend I finally decided it was time to fish or cut bait and signed up for heatherrainier.net. My new IT guy took care of setting up the .net site and put all the “keys” to it in my hands. All the content comes from me and he handles the updates and analytical side of the website. And he gets extra brownie points because he responds when I text or email him.
As far as writing is concerned…
I appreciate everyone who has offered words of understanding and encouragement in my decision to take a hiatus. I’ll reiterate again that it’s not a permanent thing.
I started writing because I loved sharing my heart in stories. I loved that they resonated with readers, but under pressure to release books in order to maintain constant visibility in a saturated market began to feel like I was a running in a hamster wheel.
My kids were little when I was first published. It’s true that they spent the intervening years watching their formerly stay-at-home mom chasing a huge dream, but they’ve also been firsthand witnesses to the stress that came with that success. I don’t know how writers more prolific than I was maintain such a grueling schedule. What I do know is that it was unhealthy for me, and for my family. I looked at my kids—really looked at them—and realized they were nearly grown and my time with them at home—still in the nest—was reaching its conclusion. Am I looking forward to an empty nest? Yes, I admit I am. But I knew I needed to tap the brakes on my schedule and take the time to really relish my final years as a stay-at-home mom.
Factor in the tremendous damage that book piracy has done to my ability to make a living, and any reasonable person could understand why I’d step off that hamster wheel.
Do the characters and possible story lines still talk to me? Heck yeah, they do! But I want to go back to writing because I love doing it, because it’s the product of an overflowing heart. The work I put into character development and producing a story worthy of the reader’s purchase price comes at a mental, emotional, and familial cost. I’m just asking for time…not calling it quits.
A few other minor changes in online activity have coincided with the website shift. At this time I have no plans to do any social media events, contests, etc. My engagement with the Divine Divas on Facebook however will remain unchanged.
I recently deactivated my Twitter account. I never got the hang of coming in under 80 characters or whatever it used to be before they increased it. I also never got the hang of hash tags. As my son is fond of saying, “Mom, that’s not how hash tags are supposed to work.”
My reply: “I don’t care because #IAmTryingToBeFunnyNotTrending. #ButThanksForMakingMeFeelOld and #RememberIControlTheCarKeys and #BeNiceOrYouDon’tGetToDriveTheCamaroAgain because #MamaStillRulesThisHouse.”
Anyway, I quit Twitter and don’t miss all that negative BS at all.
My Pinterest boards are still up…for now.
We’ll also be discontinuing my Heather Rainier post office box in New Braunfels when it comes up for renewal in September. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all the Christmas cards and small items that readers send me at Christmas time, but I can’t justify the yearly expense or inconvenience of driving all the way to NB to check it regularly.
Now for those of you who have read this far hoping for news about actual works in progress…
My current work is still Luka, Matthias, and Erin’s story. In the course of writing the early chapters, and rereading the entire series, I realized I’d made an error in her back story and correcting it was going to mean making significant changes in what I’d already written. Authors have their work cut out giving information for potential future main characters, and this was one time when I painted myself into a corner and now it’s time to find my way out.
It’s okay because there were certain aspects of the beginning of her story that never gelled for me anyway. Maybe that was my subconscious telling me there was an error that needed fixing. Not to worry, though. This has happened before and it always works out in the end. I’m not a fan of nitpicking a work in progress, in general, but sometimes it’s like crocheting. When you realize you made a mistake, it’s best to pull out those rows and redo them, in order to avoid an even more obvious error as the project gets bigger.
By the way, Luka and Matthias’s mom and dads will make an appearance in this book. What a crazy bunch of characters! Just a hint for anyone who is familiar with mad Hispanic mamas (or mad mamas in general), “No one escapes the wrath of the chancla!” (That’s a sandal or slipper for the uninitiated.)
One of the questions most often asked of me is “Do you have a release date?” I’ve been asked this question a number of times about this current work in progress. I don’t hold on to that information. When I have a release date I share it everywhere, usually immediately. I don’t have a release date for Driving Miss Crazy, which is the working title for Erin’s book. I say “working title” because as I’ve gotten to know her better she’s showed herself to be more of a “Ms.” than a “Miss.” We’ll see.
I won’t have a release date until after it’s finished and submitted. Trust me, I’ll be posting and sharing that info all over the place as soon as I have it. Send me a friend request, like my fan page, or bookmark this website so you’ll always have easy access to that info.
True and Noble Strong , those sexy singers and songwriters, are still up after I’m done with Erin, Luka, and Matthias. These two guys are the reason I promise that I’m going to get back to writing soon, because I’m dying to tell their story, and to delve into their characters, as well as that of the woman they fall in love with. She’d have to be pretty special to put up with their crazy lifestyle.
I’ve toyed with the idea of working with my daughter on telling Justine’s story. It depends on factors that are not all in my control though. She is a talented young writer in her own right, and helped me develop Justine’s character when I was writing Divine Charity several years ago. That was the first bit of my writing she’d ever read. Lucky for me she was hooked on Divine from that moment. But she’s embarking on her own life adventure now, and after seeing the struggles I’ve had, she’s determined to write (right now) strictly for the joy of it, and consider publishing later down the road, if ever. But I confess working with her would be loads of fun. She was also a huge help in working on Tangere Tales and her personality definitely sparkles through in a few places when I reread those books. Regardless of how it comes about, though, Justine’s book with Noah is likely to be the next in the series after True and Noble’s.
I don’t like to mention future main characters until I’m reasonable certain that I can write them a good happily ever after. A lot goes into character development and I like to be sure I’m committed to doing that before I say anything. Right now there are two sets of male characters who I’ve noticed keep popping up in the series that I’d enjoy writing.
The first set is Hanks’s deputy, Wyatt, and his brother, Stephen, who is Divine’s local veterinarian. The other pair is Bauk and Chad from the Divine Creek Ranch. They have some entertaining moments in the series, most notably in Jayne and Seth’s book, His Tattooed Virgin, but also show up in Erin’s story. We’ll see if it works out for either of these pairs or not, but it’s usually an encouraging sign when they keep popping up again and again. Just wanted to let you know where my mind has been going lately.
That’s it for now. Don’t forget to (re-)subscribe to my blog and bookmark my website. I’ll continue doing these journal-style entries in the works in progress page to keep you up to date. Thanks for hanging out with me!
Seize the day, baby!