I grew up in a large family literally surrounded by books.  Before the upstairs in my childhood home was remodeled, the ten of us–six girls, two boys, and our prodigious parents–slept in the large attic space, the make-shift bedrooms divided by stacks of books.  I couldn’t read them then, I was too young.  But I was comforted by their presence, setting in motion a life-long love of books.

I eventually became a literature professor, then quit cold when I realized that after years of analyzing other authors’ fiction, it was time to write my own.  I sat down at the computer and composed a short story, some weird business about a female pilot gone rogue.  Then, I tried my hand at a novel, realizing very quickly, like a novice hiker gone off-trail, how utterly lost I was.  Over the next few years, I burrowed in like a mole and honed my skills.

The writing improved.  I took heart, and then gained steam.

I scored short story publications in quirky venues. I won modest awards. I kept writing, mostly novels, mostly set in the distant past. For an occasional breather from historical fiction, I’d go off on a lark, and write a thriller or a ghost story. One such gambol, “The Grid”, was a quarterfinalist in a ghost story competition, and later appeared in a bona fide literary journal.

And then, serendipity:  I won a free book publishing package with an indie publisher.  That led to my first novel, Sally St. Johns, a satirical eco-thriller.

A few years later, I reached another milestone–signing with a traditional publisher. The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew, an historical novel about Jamestown and the two women who ensured its survival, was released by Blackstone Publishing in 2020.

Since then, there have been other firsts–pieces in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Duke magazine.   It’s a dream come true, of sorts, no doubt inspired by those long-ago stacks of books cradling and emboldening a little girl while she slept.

Interviews: 

http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2013/07/denise-heinze-runner-up-in-winter-2013.html