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** UPDATE: Peggy Henderson is offering a FREE download of “Yellowstone Heart Song” through Mar 15 via Smashwords! (Use this coupon code WD97V to get it for FREE) **

Today, we have author Peggy Henderson featured on the blog’s ‘Indie Saturday‘ for her time travel historical romance novel “Yellowstone Heart Song” (Available on Amazon), the first book in her Yellowstone Romance Series.

Author Peggy Henderson writes about ‘Yellowstone Heart Song’ (and how her Yellowstone Romance Series came to be):

I make no bones about it that I am a complete newcomer to the big world of book publishing. I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to introduce myself.

I’ve been an avid reader of romance novels since my early 20’s. I love a good love story, and since I’m a history buff of the old west as well, I am naturally drawn to historical romance of the 1800’s American west. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would write a novel, much less publish it someday. Since I have no great insights into writing at this point, and come to places like this for learning, I thought I’d share my journey to publishing my first book.

My journey to writing began four years ago in 2009, on a return trip from an annual family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Interstate 15 though Utah can be a long stretch of highway, and it was during those long hours on the road that my mind drifted, and I conceived the idea that turned into my first novel, Yellowstone Heart Song.

Over the next few months, the story and characters took shape, and wouldn’t let me go. Another year went by, and another long drive home. After all the camping gear was packed away and the laundry finished, I sat down and wrote my first sentence. I had no intention of letting anyone read the story, much less publish it someday. Another year went by, and I tweaked and adjusted, and I finally decided I wanted some feedback. So I entered a contest. My scores were decent, but not enough to final. I tweaked some more, based on the judges’ comments, and entered the San Diego RWA Chapter’s Spring into Romance Contest in 2011.

My jaw dropped when I received the email that my story was a finalist! One judge commented I should get a critique partner. Hmm…not sure if her comment was a polite way of telling me I had major work to do, or what, but I took her advice. And I’m so glad I did. I found a wonderful critique partner online, and besides learning immensely from her – she’s never sugar-coated any of her comments, we’ve formed a personal friendship as well.

She nudged and prodded that I should publish the story. I balked and balked. She asked what I would write next. What? I hadn’t thought about another story, but I sat down, and began to write. And six weeks later, I had a first draft of Yellowstone Redemption finished.

By the time I began writing book four, my crit partner not-so-politely told me again that I needed to get the first one published. I finally relented, and decided to give it a try, but wanted to go the independent route, not through a publisher. My critique partner was getting quite discouraged with her own experiences with her small press publisher, so much so that she no longer wanted to write.

So here I am today. I published Yellowstone Heart Song at the beginning of January, followed by Yellowstone Redemption four weeks later, with no expectations whatsoever. For me personally, they have been a big success. This week I published Book 3 in the series, Yellowstone Awakening, and hope to get Book 4 and 5 out later this year. From there, who knows….. I still take the advice I gave my crit partner. I write for my own enjoyment, what I would like to read myself.

Here is a short description of Yellowstone Heart Song:

You can see the book trailer on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Bt7l8BrCI&t=1s

Yellowstone Heart Song by Peggy Henderson is available at Amazon in Kindle format. You can check out her Amazon author page or her website (peggylhenderson.blogspot.com) for a list of all her books in her Yellowstone Romance Series. You can also find Peggy Henderson’s books on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.

To learn more about Peggy Henderson, follow Peggy on Twitter: @ynpdreamer. Peggy also blogs at peggylhenderson.blogspot.com. Drop by and say hi!

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Do you want to be a featured ‘Indie Saturday’ author too? Go here for more info!

Read an embedded sample of “Yellowstone Heart Song” after the jump!

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