The hotly anticipated day is here! Cursed Hart is available to read on Amazon in ebook and paperback editions! The reviews are rolling in and so gar they’ve all been excellent. One reader went so far as call it my best work yet when he reviewed it on BookBub.
Make sure to pick up your copy of Cursed Hart on Amazon today! If you send me a proof of purchase screenshot and a review acreenshot, I will send you another ebook of your choice from my catalog as a free thank you bonus!
Between stuffing your face and stifling the urge to bludgeon your least favorite in-law with the back end of the turkey, you will be dismayed to learn that Facebook and Instagram are indeed down. I think I just heard a collective, pained scream from half the country declaring, “But where will we post all of our food photos?! Noooooo!”
Forgive my humor. Either way, I wish you all a wonderful day. And if you should wish for a reprieve, make sure to check out Still Death here. It’ll provide you with a valid reason to escape into another world for a little while and is free.
Much love and hugs, Maggie Lynn XO
PS., Cursed Hart will be here tomorrow, so make sure to check it out here.
PPS., How do you like the new website design? Make sure to comment below and tell me!
Hello everyone on this lovely Thursday! Hope you are having a great week. Somehow I can’t believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving. Besides the obvious fun of the holiday this year, I’m also all revved up because Cursed Hart is coming out on the same day. Between the shopping and the foodstuffs, I figure readers can enjoy an action packed adventure conveniently tucked in the pages of a book. Sure beats deadly Black Friday stampedes, right? Then again, if you’re in line for a new Kindle deal at a store, I’m sure not going to stop you!
In the meantime, I decided to post a snippet of the story to give you a bit of a sneak peek, and a Thanksgiving themed one at that. While it’s not thanksgiving in the story setting itself, it certainly fits with the holiday Cursed Hart is being released on! Read it and you’ll see why:
“… Unfortunately far from convinced, Heidi’s eyes flickered up to the rear view mirror. They widened and focused on the GTO behind us. “My, my. This ought to be good.”
I turned around in my seat to see Peter waltzing up to an enormous tom turkey imperiously strutting across the road after his hens and blocking their car. Brin was leaning out the window and yelling after him, but Peter was determined. “Pete, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Get out of the way, you big, stupid oversized chicken! Go on! Git!“ Peter squawked.
“That flock has lived here for years,” Heidi murmured. “And that tom has a formidable reputation for being territorial-“
She never finished her sentence. If she did, I didn’t hear as I howled laughing.
Peter took one look at the now charging turkey and fled, arms outstretched with a yelp. The attempt he made to flee back into the safety of the car was unsuccessful, however. He gave the door one haphazard tug before the bird got too close and he had to run for it again.
“Thank you, God,” I murmured as Heidi dug out her phone to film it.
We both chortled as they ran rings around the SUV; Peter running for his life and the turkey following close behind with its feathers fanned out. The loud gobbling I could hear over Peter’s cursing did nothing to lessen the hilarity, however. I sat open mouthed as he let out a loud scream to his brother for help, still running.
Brin, of course, made no move to help him (probably just as thrilled as we were), other than to shout out his window, “Get in, Peter. Get in the car!”
All attempts to remind Peter that he could produce Tro failed as he took a flying leap onto the hood of the GTO. This did nothing considering the turkey was able to fly. It only caused Peter to catapult off just as quickly when it flew up and pecked him in the butt with an irate cackle.
“This is gonna go viral,” Heidi snorted. “His mama is gonna to love this!”
But the hilarity wasn’t done as Brin got out to try and help. He’d no sooner stepped out when one of the hens went after him, enforcing the tom who was still chasing Peter. Brin tried to shoo it away, but in the process, Peter darted around the back of the car, unaware Brin had gotten out, too, and slammed into him. They both went down with Peter landing on top of Brin. Much to Heidi’s and my glee, the tom then proceeded to hop on top of them both, flapping its wings and still gobbling.
“Peter!”
Brin sat up with an angry grimace as Peter tried unsuccessfully to squeeze himself under the car to escape. All the fun ended as Brin promptly aimed a sleeping intent at the unsuspecting birds. They wobbled on their legs a few times and then fell over. Peter cursed and rubbed his ass, watching as Brin kindly picked the bird up and deposited it off the road.
Heidi at this point was too busy uploading the video to notice Fae staring out the back window. Fae had jumped up to watch, too. “Now that was entertainment.”
Copyright Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel 2019
See why I said it fit? Peter is one of my character favorites in the new book. You can read all about the novel here. You can preorder it so you’ll have it on Thanksgiving morning, ready for your commute or wherever you’ll be for Thanksgiving, (perhaps with that shiny new Kindle you got for Black Friday!).
Make sure to comment below about how you liked the excerpt or share this snippet to show some love! I love hearing from you guys!
Xo Maggie Lynn
Cursed Hart is available now for preorder, released on November 28, 2019.
Man, oh man, another week has gone by. Now we’re in the Thanksgiving season and almost to the Christmas sprint of the shopping frenzy. Crazy how time passes, isn’t it? Where did 2019 go?!
Still, at this time of year, some of the best things happen. Families gather, parties commence, and people in retail feel even more exhausted than usual. I’m only teasing with the last one! But after braving the mall the other day, I can certainly empathize with anyone who works in one of those stores!
Either way, one of my personal weaknesses usually surfaces around this season. All of the cutest stuffed animals are put out on display for the poor suckers like me. I’ve always loved fluffy little creatures (as is proven by the live one, Ser Mishka, pictured below), even through my childhood.
On the shelf while I was grocery shopping, I spotted this lovely little fox. Swayed by the fact I’d never seen a Christmas fox in stores before (and the fact I’m currently writing a Christmas novella for my readers with foxes in it), I decided the lil’ fella would be coming home with me. Bart, as is named the character in the story, is now sitting with me as I write this.
But that wasn’t where the story ended. Oh, no, of course not. My dear editor upon seeing Bart felt that he wasn’t enough like the character in the story. In the book, the shifter Bart winds up stuck as a fennec fox. For anyone not familiar with the species, fennec foxes looks entirely different than a common fox. Not swayed by her argument, Bart still stayed with me.
So true to her usual form (and sixth sense intuition that no one except the good Lord himself can explain), guess what was sitting in Whole Foods when we arrived there to shop?
Meet Bob. Editor-dearest named him after Bob Newhart because she felt he looked like him. Do you see the resemblance, dear readers? If you’re reading this Mr. Newhart, apparently Bob Foxy Jr. has an adorable face just like yours.
So now I have two foxes, sitting here with me as I type this. Either way, come December when I release ‘Beauty and the Beasts: A Christmas Tail’, you can tell me whether you think ‘Bart’ is more appropriate to the character than ‘Bob’.
Until then, I’m focusing on my current release ‘Cursed Hart’. For those of you who are motorcyclists, I’m holding a fan contest for the release of the book. Send me a photo of you and your motorcycle to be featured. The best photo will win a digital copy of the book when it’s released. Send me a DM here on Facebook to enter.
Thanksgiving will be here in little more than a week, and so will the story! I’m so excited over this series because it is the first series I ever wrote. It’s taken a little longer than the others to get to press, but I’m eager to share Shira Hart’s story with you!
For anyone interested in reading more about Shira’s journey, make sure to check out Cursed Hart here.
Happy Holidays to you all! You’ll be seeing more of Bart and Bob’s adventures, that’s for sure!
– Love Maggie Lynn
P.S. Don’t forget to enter the contest! And if you want to see the cover for Beauty and the Beasts: A Christmas Tail, make sure to hit the like button and share this. I always try to answer reader requests, so show a little love for this blog! God bless you all
If you want a free copy of STILL DEATH, make sure to click below! https://maggielynnheronheidel.wordpress.com/get-free-copy-of-still-death/
Oh the weather outside is frightful,
And the advertising agencies mindful,
We’ve only two months to go,
Christmas overload, overload, overload!
Ah, the month of November is here already! Turkeys will be stuffed (and humans, too!) by the end of the month. Me? I’m still trying to wrangle the Christmas ads that started playing before Halloween was even over!
Ah well. Maybe I’ll stick with thoughts of El Dia de los Muertos. That ends today, but at least it doesn’t involve thoughts of snow and thoughts of Mishka trying to eat the tinsel off of people’s trees! There’s never any on ours, but knowing him, he’ll try to find some anyway!
Thank you all for your wonderful support during the launch of the Vampire’s Handmaiden. It’s been wonderful hearing from you all about the story. It make me as the author so happy! If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, make sure to do so here.
Well, let all tidings be merry and don’t imbibe in the foodstuffs over the upcoming holidays! ‘Till we meet again, God bless!
The fated day has arrived! The Vampire’s Handmaiden is finally here!
I’m so happy the book is now in readers hands and out there in the world! Reviews are starting to come in and they are making me grin. People are loving Yasmina, Dracula, and Dune. Remillion, not so much… Then again, that’s just how I wanted it!
It’s available on Kindle and paperback, so make sure to pick up your copy before it gets too spooky out there tonight! To all the trick or treaters, stay safe! Who knows what creatures of the night are lurking around and thirsty for your blood…
How much time would a vampire take to drain a person of blood?
Well, according to science, the average grown human has about 1.2 to 1.5 gallons (4.5 to 5.5 liters) of blood circulating inside their body. So if you were to be drained of blood, you’d weigh about 10% less of your body’s original mass.
By the time kids are 5 or 6 years old, children contain just about the same amount of blood as adults do. But because children are smaller, their blood makes up a larger percentage of their body weight than in adults.
But what does this have to do with the release of the Vampire’s Handmaiden, you ask? Very simple! We’re busy theorizing just how much blood they can get out of a typical human without killing them. What a lovely, morbid topic, right?!
When donating blood, a person loses about a pint of blood or 10% of it. When you lose about 30% or more, symptoms of the blood loss really start to manifest. That’s around 3 – 4 pints of blood. But when the human body loses 40% or more, hypovolemic shock starts to set in. That’s when things start to shut down and blood pressure starts to drop. I.e., that’s the true danger zone.
So if you were to be bitten by a vampire, there would be two more factors to consider. Thinking of where precisely they bit you would also be a huge detail to take in. The difference between how much blood they’d get on an a major artery (for example the femoral artery or the jugular), would be very different than if they bit you elsewhere in the body. That, and the victim’s blood pressure would definitely contribute, depending on how low it dropped or if it stopped entirely.
Either way, the body can be drained of blood relatively quickly. It would vary person to person, based on their size and where bitten. But either way, most people would be dead within minutes at fastest. It’s a pretty grim way to die in my opinion, but personally I’d prefer it to being torn apart by zombies!
Hope that answers your question, readers! The Vampire’s Handmaiden will be live at midnight tonight, ready to read on October 31st, Halloween 2019! Make sure to pick up your copy HERE.
In the meantime, here’s a synopsis of the novel:
The Vampire’s Handmaiden – Watchmen of the Grail Series
Only one thing matters: the reclamation of Dracula’s soul…
Her blood rights sold in return for her mother’s life, Yasmina Tolite longs to be free of living her life in the night. Bound forever in servitude to a vampire as his handmaiden, her virgin blood belongs to him alone until the day she dies. But when a new neighbor moves in next door and threatens to steal her heart, there’s nothing her vampiric master won’t do to keep her as his.
Between the arrival of Viscount Dracula and the discovery of Van Helsing’s long lost heir, one thing is for certain: the night has just begun.
Dracula’s salvation is at hand. The Holy Grail has been found.
Yasmina Van Helsing will rise. A Watchman has been born.
The Vampire’s Handmaiden is perfect for fans of vampires, were-wolves, were-cockatrices, the Holy Grail, and twisted tales of the undead. Proceed with caution, for the dark fantasy world of the supernatural is about to become yours…
Move out of the way Twilight, Dark Shadows, and the Vampire Diaries fans. The vampire hunters of the Grail are coming for you…
Editorial Review:
“Dang. I’m a writer more than a reader. I’m an editor more than an avid, willing reader. Heavy duty college courses as an English major all but ruined my zest for reading books. Plus, I am not intrigued with those trendy vampire stories. Well, that zest is back along with the intrigue with thanks to Author ML Heron-Heidel. I’ve fallen in love with some of her characters and I passionately want to snuff out some others. With my bare hands nonetheless. Then along comes the talent of their creator and I want to invite most of them into my home. Well, not entirely most. Some are not welcomed yet all live within my mind and heart. They will forever thanks to the talent of this writer. Her work is absolutely brilliant, captivating and never, ever repetitive. With the end of each piece I find myself longing to read more, to know the outcome, the happiness my favorite characters so deserve – and the justice the others’ misdeeds merit. Ah but my thirst is never quenched novel to novel. How absolutely brilliant this author is! I get hooked every single time and, you know what? I’m loving it.”
Okay, guys! What questions do you have for me?
To celebrate the launch of the Vampire’s Handmaiden, I’m taking questions on just about everything you can imagine or ask! I’ll take questions on the writing process, any of my books, and whatever else you throw at me.
Comment under the article and I’ll answer your questions live in the upcoming video Q&A!
– Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel
The Vampire’s Handmaiden – Watchmen of the Grail Series
Only one thing matters: the reclamation of Dracula’s soul…
Her blood rights sold in return for her mother’s life, Yasmina Tolite longs to be free of living her life in the night. Bound forever in servitude to a vampire as his handmaiden, her virgin blood belongs to him alone until the day she dies. But when a new neighbor moves in next door and threatens to steal her heart, there’s nothing her vampiric master won’t do to keep her as his.
Between the arrival of Viscount Dracula and the discovery of Van Helsing’s long lost heir, one thing is for certain: the night has just begun.
Dracula’s salvation is at hand. The Holy Grail has been found.
Yasmina Van Helsing will rise. A Watchman has been born.
The Vampire’s Handmaiden is perfect for fans of vampires, were-wolves, were-cockatrices, the Holy Grail, and twisted tales of the undead. Proceed with caution, for the dark fantasy world of the supernatural is about to become yours…
Move out of the way Twilight, Dark Shadows, and the Vampire Diaries fans. The vampire hunters of the Grail are coming for you…
Editorial Review:
“Dang. I’m a writer more than a reader. I’m an editor more than an avid, willing reader. Heavy duty college courses as an English major all but ruined my zest for reading books. Plus, I am not intrigued with those trendy vampire stories. Well, that zest is back along with the intrigue with thanks to Author ML Heron-Heidel. I’ve fallen in love with some of her characters and I passionately want to snuff out some others. With my bare hands nonetheless. Then along comes the talent of their creator and I want to invite most of them into my home. Well, not entirely most. Some are not welcomed yet all live within my mind and heart. They will forever thanks to the talent of this writer. Her work is absolutely brilliant, captivating and never, ever repetitive. With the end of each piece I find myself longing to read more, to know the outcome, the happiness my favorite characters so deserve – and the justice the others’ misdeeds merit. Ah but my thirst is never quenched novel to novel. How absolutely brilliant this author is! I get hooked every single time and, you know what? I’m loving it.”
“If my plan works,” Dune continued, “he’ll lift his hypnosis to find out what we’ve done. Once he does, when you remember all this – remember me – I want you to make a decision. You need to decide what you want. If you call out for me, I will come for you and break you free. I promise you I will. I won’t let him take you again. Never.”
“And if I don’t remember?” I asked, sensing he had moved closer.
“Then I’ll find another way to free you,” he swore.
I looked at the obscured man, still unsure. All of this mattered very little considering I doubted Remy would ever let me go. “And what are we supposed to have done?”
“This,” he murmured huskily, invisible hands cupping my cheeks.
I shivered as my lower lip was traced. “What‘re you-?”
My question broke off with a low gasp as lips kissed the corner of my mouth, then along my jaw. I trembled, eyes closing and breath hitching in my throat as he feathered kisses under my ear, traveling lower with every brush of his lips against my skin.
Despite the bizarreness of the situation, not being able to see the man whose hands were encircling my waist and all but dragging me to him, I found myself swayed by the intoxicating feeling of his touch. A thrill went up my spine, wondering just where this moment would lead. On some level, it felt very wrong not knowing who was touching my body. But on another one, it felt so right; too good to tell him to stop.
One arm bowed my body to him, letting me feel the planes of his chest. My hands tightened on the chair arm rest, resisting the urge to reach out to touch him. To pull him even closer, to feel his body against mine.
As I gave in to the feeling, I tilted my head back to give him better access as he kissed my collar bone. Lower and lower he went, down between my breasts and across my stomach. With every kiss, I grew steadily hotter, feeling his lips through the thin, cool silk of my shirt. I trembled as his fingers dipped below the waist of my skirt and I fought to breathe as his lips came back to my ear, his hands lingering on my body and shaking over my skin.
“Choose us,” he rasped in my ear, his voice rough with desire. ”I will come for you.”
Pre-order it at amazon.com/author/maggielynnheronheidel
The Vampire’s Handmaiden will be available on October 31st 2019
©️ 2019 Maggielynnheronheidel
Best Selling Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel 