We were lucky to catch up with Heather Christie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My second novel, The Lying Season, is deeply meaningful to me as it was written during period intense self-reflection and difficult decision-making at the end of my long marriage. In some ways, though fiction, the work was emotionally autobiographical and helped me figure out how to move forward.

Heather , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and, at age seventeen, took off for New York City in hopes of becoming a movie star. Flash forward several decades, a couple degrees, a bunch of cats, one divorce, and two kids later, I’m back in New York City—the mother of two great young adults, a writer, soccer CEO, real estate broker, amateur cook, slow runner, and avid reader.

Reading and writing have always been an important part of my life. I hold a BA in Literary Studies from the University of Texas, Dallas and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College, Boston, MA. Kirkus Reviews called my award-winning, best-selling debut Young Adult novel What The Valley Knows, “A taut, compelling family tale.” (1/25/2018 by Black Rose Writing). My second novel, The Lying Season, was published September 9, 2021. My essays have been published by Salon, Next Tribe, Writer’s Digest, Baltimore Style, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, Mamapedia, The Good Men Project, Grown & Flown, Parent.co, Bon Bon Break, Her View From Home, the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, Sammichs and Psych Meds, and The Lighter Side of Real Estate.

Perhaps, I am most proud of being a midwife to other people’s stories as the producer and director of storytelling shows. As a cast member, of Listen To Your Mother in 2017, I brought the production to Pennsylvania and then debuted Listen To Your Mother NYC Off-Off Broadway in Manhattan in 2023 and hope to make it an annual tradition every spring in the Big Apple.. I am also the creator, producer and director of a new storytelling concept: LoveNotes!–True Stories of First Love, Last Love, and All The Love In Between, which will have its world premier February 10, 2024 in New York City, followed by a LoveNotes! anthology and podcast, both of which will launch in late 2024. Should you have a true story that would fit either show, please reach out.

Manhattan is home, but a piece of my heart remains in my small hometown near Reading, PA. I love to read, run, drink tea, make Sunday dinner. And I don’t go anywhere without lipstick 😊. Say “hi” at www.HeatherChristieBooks.com.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

While primarily a writing craft book, Colum McCann’s Letter To A Young Writer, is a deeply philosophical treatise of becoming and being an artist. It speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit required by an artist in launching her work into the world. Sometimes, I will reread it when I need a pick-me-up to continue doing my creative work. The book ends, “Write young writer, write . . . just shift this world of ours a little. It is, after all, a beautiful and strange and furious place. Literature (art) reminds us that life is not already written down. There are still infinite possibilities. Make from your confrontation with despair a tiny little margin of beauty. The more you choose to see, the more you will see. In the end, the only things worth doing are the things that might possibly break your heart. Rage on.”

Hear, hear McCann. And thank you.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when my art touches someone and they tell me so.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.HeatherChristieBooks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherchristiebooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherchristiebooks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-christie-mfa-4b976049/

Image Credits
Three professional shots: Jeffrey Hornstein