Monthly Archives: March 2021

We’re less than one month away from Otherside: The Serenity being released live on Amazon ya’ll!!!!! It’s unreal…not gonna lie. This book is like…20 years in the making, so it’s a big deal.

I wrote the very first draft by hand when I was 15 years old. Then it sat in a folder, inside a cabinet for a couple years while I finished high school and went off to college. I had dreams of being a published author, but I wasn’t sure what book would end up being “the one.” Then one day, I was going through all my old stories I’d written, laughing at how bad most of them were, when I came across Otherside. I hadn’t looked at it in YEARS. I read through it, and while it still was not up to publishing standards, the bones of it were interesting. At this point, I’d grown as a writer and could better recognize which books of mine had potential, and which ones did not. I knew this one had it.

Many years and several drafts, headaches, bouts of writer’s block and a healthy dose of imposter syndrome later, and here we are. IT’S BEING RELEASED ON APRIL 24th, 2021, on Amazon.

Better yet, the Kindle is available for pre-order NOW.

The paperback is BEAUTIFUL. I’m seriously in love. Holding it in my hands, feeling the weight of it, the softness of the cover, it’s just makes me so happy that other people will get a chance to finally read it, and (I hope) fall in love with the world I have been nurturing for so long.

I would love to hear more from you, questions you have, or maybe about your own writing practice. I go live on Facebook each Tuesday for a coffee talk, and it would be so cool if you popped in to say hello. This week I’ll be talking about another one of the characters, Aimee Jonson.

Last week, we talked about Josh Linestone, and the week before that we talked about main character, Alanis Laundale — the heroine of our story. That video also had a funny anecdote about how Facebook Live HATES me.

Come on by and say hello! The links to my pages are in the footer below.

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

What do you think is the best use of your time?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.

BIG NEWS!!! The Kindle version of Otherside: The Serenity is available now for preorders on Amazon. It will be released live on April 24th, but if you’d like to go ahead and purchase it now, you can. You can find it here

I am seriously anxious with anticipation. I know giving people time to hear about the book is the right thing to do, but I want to release it RIGHT NOW, so bad, because I’m so excited for people to read it. This week I actually got a proof copy of the paperback version, and just holding it in my hands, the cover done with the title and my name, and flipping through the pages and seeing the words I wrote…it made it so much more REAL. It’s not just some social media post about a book anymore. I can hold it, tangibly, in my hands. SO. FREAKING. COOL.

Any way, I hope you are catching all the videos and posts about the book, and would love to have you comment and say hi on my Facebook or Instagram! Also, if you haven’t had a chance to start the writing prompts to get your own inspiration going, I hope you’ll start. I will be taking the prompts from the past couple of weeks, and putting out a new creation hopefully at the end of this week.

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

Do you wish you could press the reset button on anything in your life? If so, what?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.

While I still don’t have a definitive date for pre-orders on Otherside: The Serenity, I feel confident I should be able to take them by the end of the week. Once I’m able I will post the link to do so on my Facebook Page, and again here on the blog.

Yesterday was an interesting day going live on Facebook. When kids interrupt your live video and technology hates you it makes for a very amusing time. I’m happy to have been able to talk about my main character, Alanis Laundale, and tell you a little bit about Sable, Massachusetts, where the book is set. Next week, I will do another live video and talk about one of our other feature characters.

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

When you close your eyes, what do you always dream about?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.

April 24th is getting closer each day and I am more and more excited. This book holds a special place in my heart, and while I’m sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I certainly hope the people who read it enjoy it and that it resonates with them in some way.

I have been insanely busy but it’s all in good ways. I think having one creation a month incorporating all the writing prompts works well for me to do with my personal situation. You find what works as a writer, and you stick with it. So, by the end of the month, I will have another creation to share.

Make sure you are following me on Instagram or Facebook (or BOTH!) to get updates on pre-orders when they’re available, and to see sneak peak pieces of the book every Thursday and Friday until April 24th!!!

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

What one invention do you find completely useless and why?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.

Last week I announced the release date for Otherside: The Serenity. It will be available on Amazon in paperback, and for Kindle download on April 24th, 2021. I will also be taking pre-orders soon, so stay tuned for that.

It’s been a hectic week, and I’m juggling a lot at the moment. All good things, thankfully, but it does mean that I’m not getting write very often. One of the things I’m most looking forward to about Covid ending is to take a long train ride where I can just read and write with no interruptions. I of course will document my journey when I do, so you all can keep up with me. It’s all fodder for the tell-all.

In the mean time, if you haven’t had a chance to see the posts I have going on Thursdays and Fridays, you can check them out on Instagram and Facebook. They include small portions of my novel Otherside, so you can get a taste of what the story is like, and about…plus they have some super cool images that I feel give you a picture of who our characters are.

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

What TV show, past or present — do you wish your life was like?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.