Challenge completed - story ongoing. I’m currently at 50,234, but the story is progressing in several new directions and I’m going to keep on truckin’ along. We’ll see whether I completely finish the story this month, but I will continue to update my wordcount on the site for those of you who are also NaNoing and keeping track.

Best wishes to everyone who is participating - and I look forward to the rest of you hitting the 50k mark soon!

Did you know that the Princess Carrina series for Young Readers is complete? That’s right! A three book series that’s just waiting for you to grab it up and enjoy. If you haven’t been with us in a while, you might not know that the third and final book just became available on amazon.com. This means that the entire series is there for the taking!

I haven’t decided if I will write a fourth in the series, but if I do it will probably not be until 2010, or perhaps in November 2009 during NaNoWriMo. There is just too much other stuff on my plate, and while I enjoyed the young reader’s series, I tend to prefer more adult fiction, and I think my writing is better in non-youth literature.

I’ll share a secret with you - most people like book 2 the best - that’s The Venus Diary. Personally, I prefer the third, and final book in the series The Dragons of Tarnack. Book 1 - Box of Hair: A Fairy Tale, was originally intended to be the only book, but then I got the itch to see if I could evolve the characters and storyline, and that’s why books 2 and 3 are better :-).

The other things that you’ll find available on amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble if you prefer, are my blog compilation volume 1, a 3-book poetry compilation, and a short story (exclusively at lulu.com). Everything is also Kindle enabled, if you’ve got one of those snazzy devices (just search “heath buckmaster” on amazon.com). Buy everything and you’ll get free shipping from amazon.com!!

With the holidays coming up soon, a book is a wonderful gift for readers young and old alike, and thank you in advance for supporting Independent Authors!!!

I really don’t mean to show off…but here you go, 7 days into the competition:

I’m pretty much half-way there! And I have to say I’m loving this story. It constantly challenges me; I’ve made a number of plot and character changes along the way; I’m diggin’ the humour as well as the ridiculousness that spews forth; I can’t wait to see what happens when I’m done!

Best wishes to everyone participating in the National Novel Writing Month!!

Are you a burgeoning writer? Do you even know what the word burgeoning means?

Get those pens, pencils, keyboards, or voice recorders ready because it’s almost time for NaNoWriMo 2008!! NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month annual competition for writers across the world. It is your opportunity to network with people from around the planet who are all writing as madly as they can to reach the 50,000 word goal. It runs November 1-30.

I know 50K looks like a big scary number, but believe me it’s absolutely do-able. 30 days, 50,000 words. That’s an average of 1666 words per day, which is not a lot. There will be some days when you might hammer out 9000 words, and other days when only 600 are penned, but if you keep yourself focused on the goal you’ll hit it with plenty of time (and words) to spare.

This is my third year participating, and it will hopefully be another win. I have several story ideas that have been waiting in the wings, and NaNoWriMo is a great forcing function to get a story written. If you’ve been lacking motivation to get those ideas into some cohesive story-line, give NaNoWriMo a try. Your story doesn’t have to be perfect, and in fact, you’re encouraged to avoid edits as you write. Just get the story written and you can edit in December and beyond. And believe me, it will take beyond.

Edits on my stories have taken anywhere from 2-9 months, and it’s sometimes quite an undertaking, but very rewarding.

So mark your calendar for NaNoWriMo 2008 - November 1-30, and feel free to add me to your friend list when you register on the site!

I’ve been in the mood to write something a bit macabre, or at least something that doesn’t necessary have a happy ending - something with darkness, but filled with desire.

And thus I came up with Thorn Valley. Although it hasn’t been vetted properly, here’s the first chapter of the short story soon to be published. Enjoy, and I welcome comments.

Thorn Valley is a desolate place – or perhaps more accurately described, a dead place. A place where no plant, no animal, no anything could last for more than a few hours – maybe a day. Even the winds and rains avoided Thorn Valley, as if their essence would be smote if they remained too long.

Scattered across the land, the foolhardy adventurer would find clothing remnants, gold and silver jewelry, and numerous artifacts left by previous travelers. Well, not left exactly – more so they were all that remained of those previous travelers whose lives had ended here, and whose bodies and bones had long ago turned to dust. It seemed that despite their foreknowledge of this desolate and deadly place, once they entered the valley they found it impossible to escape.

While true that the valley held no life, it was the hunting ground for the dead – wraiths, spirits, melancholy and malevolent ghosts from years so ancient as to be uncountable. They hovered silently over the sands of time which blanketed the valley in a sparkling and awe inspiring blindness. The sun had no fear of this place – likely due only to its distance – and it sent its glowing warmth to beat upon the rocks and sand.

Outcroppings of boulders and smaller rocks were scattered across the floor of the valley. Had this been a living place, those areas would have made perfect hiding spots for numerous predators seeking to snare the unaware adventurer. Alas, what hid there now was much worse – a terror of shadow and void that sat quietly in wait for the next curious soul to venture across the threshold.

Most treasure seekers felt confident that they alone could overcome the valley to steal the riches of years past and return to fame and fortune. And likewise, the valley had seen to it to destroy each of them in devious and terrifying ways, slowly adding to its treasure.

* Thorn Valley excerpt copyright 2008 by Heath L. Buckmaster. All rights reserved.

I am incredibly pleased to announce that the final book in the 3-part Princess Carrina series for Young Readers has been published in hardcover (softcover release date ~29 September).

You can now get all three of the delightful adventures starting with Box of Hair: A Fairy Tale, continuing with The Venus Diary, and concluding with The Dragons of Tarnack.

Here’s a quick synopsis:

In a far away kingdom, two young children arrive in a flash of green light. As they make their way through a dangerous jungle, they discover an amazing city built high up in the trees that may very well become their new home.

In the Kingdom of Acadia, still mourning the loss of her sister Gorgonza, Queen Grimelda and her new husband King Venus assume the throne to bring peace to the once darkened land.

An unexpected visitor to Castle Underbrook causes Princess Carrina to enlist the help of her friends on a new adventure, as she magically transports everyone to a kingdom once ruled by dragons.

The Dragons of Tarnack, is the third and final magical adventure in the Princess Carrina series for Young Readers, and the exciting sequel to The Venus Diary.

I’m running a promotion!!

Program One

• You buy one of my paperback books from amazon.com, read it and write a review, and you can participate in the Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off Program, and will receive an amazon.com gift certificate for half the retail price of any other paperback book by me. You are only responsible for 50% of the price plus shipping costs associated with the purchase! Once you’ve written your review, send me your email address using the secured contact form and I’ll get your gift certificate right out to you!

Program Two

• If you have an Amazon Kindle you can participate in the Buy-One-Get-One-Free program. Purchase one of my Kindle enabled books, write a review, and you will receive a gift certificate for the full value of a second Kindle book (mine are very reasonably priced). That’s right, two for the price of one! Once you’ve written your review, send me your email address using the secured contact form and I’ll get your gift certificate right out to you!

This promotion won’t last forever, so start reading right away! How cool of a deal is that? There are numerous books for you to choose from, just click, buy, write, and save…pick from any of the books below to get started:

Paperback Options:

Kindle Options: