HEIDI RUBY MILLER

BOOKS LOOK BEFORE YOU JUMP When scandal comes calling and Vicki leaps into the fray, you know it’s gonna be big. This here’s Texas after all. Meet Victoria Bohanan, a twenty-six year-old Dallas debutante turned bartender babe who rejected her father’s saintly sinner ways and struck out on her own – well, sort of. Her mom’s credit card comes to the rescue on occasion, but Vicki is still her own woman, with less than lusty – er, lofty – aspirations and a mind constantly limping from the gutter. But Texas moms don’t raise fools. Vicki will earn that twenty dollar tip by guessing the mistress’ name and your favorite drink faster than you can belly up to the bar. That sharp wit has gotten her out of more than one disastrous situation – until the mouth sinks her right into another. When an old high school flame returns to town with a pregnant wife in tow and a pastorate position lodged under his belt, life quickly becomes tangled. This time we’re not talking between the sheet

GIVEAWAYS You can win a signed paperback of my novel Starrie (From the World of Ambasadora) at Goodreads. This is an international giveaway that ends on April 30, 2016. Goodreads Book Giveaway Starrie by Heidi Ruby Miller Giveaway ends April 30, 2016. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

INTERVIEWS EXCERPT: Due to some business travel to Fairbanks Alaska I had the chance to read STARRIE by Heidi Ruby Miller in two sittings on the same day. And let me just say, I’m glad I had that opportunity. STARRIE is one ripping fast book and a well told story. I loved it! It was a perfect diversion as I looked out the airplane window across the billowing clouds and Alaskan mountains. BASIL: As I read the story I was impressed by the tightness of the writing. How do you recommend new writers achieve good clean prose? HEIDI: Like I tell my writing students at Seton Hill, know your intent for each scene—ideally, you will be showing characterization while moving the plot forward. A few words can be more powerful than an entire page, so make them count by eliminating redundancies, unnecessary gestures and facial expressions, and constant internal questioning by the POV character. Chapter outlines or summaries are a surefire way to keep each scene on task for me. Read the

REVIEWS Nice review from Publisher's Weekly for Starrie (From the World of Ambasadora) ! Though it is a standalone novel, this book takes place chronologically right after Greenshift and runs concurrent with Marked by Light . "Miller’s short third novel in the space-faring, caste-bound, hierarchically polyamorous, and socially striated Ambasadora universe (after 2013’s Greenshift) manages to balance the exoticized presentation of the setting with relatable human interaction...the romance between Ben and Naela highlights the emotional side of reaching out to those who are different from you, even in a world where those differences are stylized and codified." Read the whole review here.

BOOKS DIRT Washington would rather be playing basketball in the tournament instead of traveling to East Texas for a family reunion. He hates to read, but takes off on his own with a book to satisfy his parents. Washington travels back to the past where he encounters his ancestor Square and witnesses the brutal punishment of a slave who is found reading. When Washington steps out of the protecting circle of dirt, Washington fears he may never be able to return to the present or see his family again. "Once while listening to public radio, I heard first person accounts of the slave narratives, Remembering Slavery. I realized that every single ancestral win was also a win for me. This is a thought that resonated with me, and I wanted to share that with young Americans. Reading, in its own way, is a beautiful legacy," Thompson said. "The book, Dirt, gives a reader a fast read on a tough subject. Living in the times that we do, I think it’s a very appropriate image