Insanely Weird Alert

In an attempt to figure out how well I'm infiltrating the internet, I have a Google Alert set up in my name. My hope, of course, is that soon I'll see people in England and Australia and China doing posts about my books (we might have to get a Chinese edition out first, though).

So I had to giggle when this Google Alert came through: Insanely Attractive Woman

My face, at least, is reaching far and unfamiliar places like Canada... I can only hope my book gets there someday!

Today's stop on the blog tour is Shannon O'Donnell! Check out her blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a free ebook!

Cars and Lemons

So my husband recently switched jobs! (Yay!) He went from being a deputy to working for Walmart. Besides paycheck and scheduling changes, this also meant we had to give up his patrol car.

Last week we bought a new car. It's exciting buying a new car, isn't it? Even if it's not really new. Actually, we got a smoking good deal. A 1998 Oldsmobile with leather seating, sun roof, all the nice things. It's got a decent amount of miles on it, but we paid less than $2000. Sweet!

Of course, there's one minor problem. For some reason, Oldsmobiles of that time period, at least, liked to have two keys: one for the ignition and one for the doors (who knows why???). Not only did the seller not tell us this, but he only gave us one key.

We're just lucky my husband didn't try to lock his car for several days, because once he did, he couldn't get back in.

If we're lucky, that will be the only problem we have with this car... :)

Today's stop on the blog tour is Tristi Pinkston! We need at least ten comments to have an ebook winner. So go over and comment away!

Mother Rush

Yesterday I felt like a true mom.

I don't know why, but I seem to equate motherhood with insanely busy. And yesterday, as I made absolutely the best use of my time, I thought, "Yeah, this is the life."

We ate lunch in the car on the way to the dentist office. Then I made my grocery list in the dentist office. After that we hurried to the grocery store (and the bank) before running over to the chiropractor. We got there ten minutes early so I could file all three kids into the bathroom and take a bathroom break.

Did I mention that before lunch, we went to the gym, shoe shopping, and Plato's Closet?

Total adrenaline rush. I felt pretty awesome.

And the winner for a free ebook from yesterday is SA Larsen! Send me an email and let me know which book you want, Perilous or Altercation!

Today's blog stop at David West's blog, a personal friend of mine. So be sure to stop by and check it out!

Never Serve a Minor Alcohol

Business first: Day 2 of my blog tour! Today's stop is at RaShelle Workman's blog!

And from Friday, the winner of a free ebook is Leslie Rose! Leslie, shoot me an email and let me know if you prefer Altercation or Perilous!

A quick note to all, before I run out the door and start my crazy hectic day: If you're waiting tables and someone asks for a beer, don't just ask for their ID. Make sure you actually check the date when they show it to you.

(Lesson learned from watching another waiter make this mistake in front of an undercover cop.)

See everyone tomorrow!

It Starts Today!

November 1

Victoriaville, Canada 

Detective Carl Hamilton leaned out of the hole blown into the four-story building, studying the concrete pavement three floors below. Pine trees speckled the mountainside and swayed in the chill autumn air.

Pulling his head back in, he examined the raw edges of drywall. It looked as though a bazooka or rocket-propelled grenade had blasted through. Similar holes dotted the rest of The Hand’s lair, and the garage door lay crumpled like a tin can in the driveway. Had the criminal been ambushed? If so, why? 

One of the local police officers poked his head through an open door. “We found a desk. It has a piece of paper with names and phone numbers taped to it.”

The radio on his shoulder sputtered and someone spoke in rapid French. The officer said to Carl, “They are dusting the attic for prints. We think that is where the kidnapped girls were held.”

“Sir?” Another officer came in, several small, colored books in his gloved hand. “We found passports in a shoebox in the closet.”

Carl slipped on a thin plastic glove before taking the passports. The picture remained the same, but they used several different names and represented the majority of known countries. One name repeated itself several times: Jeff Truman.

Finally. A name and a face.  

All Around the World

Announcing the blog tour for ALTERCATION, book 2 in the PERILOUS series!

While ALTERCATION is a sequel, it's written to stand on its own as well. It's very hard to be objective about this, as the omniscient author... but I've gotten great feedback that I accomplished it!

Here are some early reviews for ALTERCATION:

"Let me catch my breath . . .

I LOST A NIGHT'S SLEEP BECAUSE OF ALTERCATION . . .

And it was so worth it!

I couldn't pause to breathe through the entire book. 

Heiner has re-invented 'edge of the seat', 'hold onto something solid', "take a deep breath and hold it' journalism.

Who knew it could be done without resorting to cheap tricks or steamy interludes?" -- Diane Tolley, author of Carving Angels

“Heiner has written a story with complex and interesting characters. Not only did I care about the characters, I cared about what happened to them.” J. Lloyd Morgan, award-winning author of The Hidden Sun.

Ready for the blog tour? It starts this Friday, June 1! Here's the line-up:

June 1 - Lydia Kang
June 4 - Rashelle Workman
June 5 - David West
June 6 - Tristi Pinkston
June 7 - Shannon O'Donnell
June 11 - Jennifer Shirk
June 12 - Saumya
June 13 - Justine Dell
June 14 - Laurel Garver
June 18 - Elizabeth Mueller
June 19 - Bonnie Harris

June 20 - Nichole Giles

June 21 - Marsha Ward
June 22 - Jo Ramsey
June 25 - Arlee Bird
June 26 - Laura Bingham
June 27 - Carrie Harris
June 29 - Deborah Davis

But it's not a blog tour without prizes, is it?

So, here they are! Since this is a blog tour, EVERY DAY I will randomly select one person who made a comment on that day's blog. The winner will then get to decide if they would like an ebook copy of PERILOUS or ALTERCATION. That means I'm giving away 21 ebooks! And all you have to do is leave a comment! There's just one catch: there must be AT LEAST ten comments on that day for me to do the giveaway.


But if that's not enough, leaving a comment also gets you entered into the PRIZE DRAWINGS. This won't be random; it's cumulative. Every comment you leave counts as 1 point. If you are a follower on my blog, you get 1 point. Every time you tweet or share on Facebook about the tour, it's one point. I'll even add it up for you; just include me in on the tweet @tamaraheiner or on Facebook @tamarahartheiner (unless you don't trust my math, and then feel free to tally it up and send it to me).


THIRD PRIZE: 50-page critique of something of your choice (if you're not a writer, a $5 amazon.com gift card)
SECOND PRIZE: lot of five YA books
FIRST PRIZE: $20 gift card to Amazon.com


I will create a new page with the blog tour links on it, so you can check back often! I'm so excited for this book! I hope you'll love it as much as I do!

Giveaways and Specials

We are on the countdown, folks. Altercation launches in less than two weeks.

As such, you may have noticed a few updates to my blog. First of all, we have a book cover! You can see it on the sidebar as well as the top of the blog. And, on that note, I'm running a Giveaway on Goodreads! All you have to do is click the button and you're entered! As a side note, even though Altercation is a sequel, it's written to stand alone. So you don't have to read Perilous first.

If you simply cannot wait for the Giveaway winners to be announced, WiDo Publishing has the book for sale for $12.75 just until the book comes out on June 5!

Want more free stuff??? Today through Sunday, the Altercation ebook is FREE! Come on, you can't beat free. So go ahead! Snag it while you can!

And since the book releases on June 5, watch for the awesome blog tour that starts next week, with over 20 blogs to visit and win stuff! If you're not excited yet, you should be. The second book is even better than the first.

Just for fun. My two books.