Herta recently completed her next novel, Strange Shape of Love, represented by
Williamson Literary and acquired by Castle Bridge Media. It is scheduled to be released
in September 2025.
Here's a little about the story:
You can't outrun the past, but you can change the ending. Or can you?
STRANGE SHAPE OF LOVE, a suspenseful story of revenge porn with a twist, recently
made the long list in a novel excerpt contest held by Uncharted Mag.
Thirty-year-old New Yorker Charlotte Cooper is an unfulfilled journalist sent on
assignment to London, a place she’d rather avoid. It dredges up old memories of her
year at Oxford, of a failed romance, and a broken promise. The death of her cousin
Abbie, for which she feels responsible, kept her from returning to England.
But this second time around turns out to be a reset. She’s offered a chance to become a
serious TV reporter and bypass the fluff pieces she’d written for Savvy Faire. Charlotte
unearths stories about human trafficking, revenge porn, and sexual harassment of
women on the dark web. And with the help of best friend Celia, Charlotte finds the
courage to reconnect with the young man she fell in love with half a dozen years earlier,
a talented sculptor named Rafe Jackson. She hopes they can pick up where they left off,
but there are challenges, some stemming from her past, and some from his.
Just as her life looks bright and promising, Charlotte receives an envelope containing
five provocative nude photographs of herself with the anonymous threat that they'll go viral if
she doesn’t quit her job and return to New York. She has two weeks to find the
culprit or lose everything—her love, her work, her new home.
Charlotte struggles to keep her new life together while trying to find out who's behind
the threat—a task further complicated by the unwanted advances of a powerful boss,
old secrets she can’t reveal to Rafe, and a figure from her past whose intentions are far
more dangerous than she could have imagined.
Williamson Literary and acquired by Castle Bridge Media. It is scheduled to be released
in September 2025.
Here's a little about the story:
You can't outrun the past, but you can change the ending. Or can you?
STRANGE SHAPE OF LOVE, a suspenseful story of revenge porn with a twist, recently
made the long list in a novel excerpt contest held by Uncharted Mag.
Thirty-year-old New Yorker Charlotte Cooper is an unfulfilled journalist sent on
assignment to London, a place she’d rather avoid. It dredges up old memories of her
year at Oxford, of a failed romance, and a broken promise. The death of her cousin
Abbie, for which she feels responsible, kept her from returning to England.
But this second time around turns out to be a reset. She’s offered a chance to become a
serious TV reporter and bypass the fluff pieces she’d written for Savvy Faire. Charlotte
unearths stories about human trafficking, revenge porn, and sexual harassment of
women on the dark web. And with the help of best friend Celia, Charlotte finds the
courage to reconnect with the young man she fell in love with half a dozen years earlier,
a talented sculptor named Rafe Jackson. She hopes they can pick up where they left off,
but there are challenges, some stemming from her past, and some from his.
Just as her life looks bright and promising, Charlotte receives an envelope containing
five provocative nude photographs of herself with the anonymous threat that they'll go viral if
she doesn’t quit her job and return to New York. She has two weeks to find the
culprit or lose everything—her love, her work, her new home.
Charlotte struggles to keep her new life together while trying to find out who's behind
the threat—a task further complicated by the unwanted advances of a powerful boss,
old secrets she can’t reveal to Rafe, and a figure from her past whose intentions are far
more dangerous than she could have imagined.