Today we’d like to introduce you to C.M. Healy.
Hi C.M., thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
What’s interesting is I never dreamed of becoming an author. I had always written silly little poems and such when I was in grade school, Shel Silverstein being a big influencer. But it wasn’t until around 2010 that I came up with the Beyond the After series idea. It’s all about the three famous princesses Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. However, my series takes place 20 years later after they’ve been married and started a family of their own. So I’m continuing the stories we all know and love, but it’s about their teenage daughters.
Everyone always asks me how did I come up with the idea, and to be honest, I can’t remember. But I do know that it was about the time the Twilight series was really big and the movies were coming out. I told myself if I could come up with an idea like that, I’d be golden.
So, I gathered up some of my poems I had written like Missing Numbers, If Mom Became an Octopus, and a few others and hired some friends to illustrate them, because I cannot draw to save my life. I dabbled on the first Beyond the After for about 5 years until I realized if I didn’t get it done, someone might beat me to it. I hunkered down for nine months while I was teaching, stopped playing video games, stayed up late nights, and finally finished Beyond the After: Princess Lillian. With that, my other three children’s books were done and I got them in print by May of 2015 and I’ve been at it ever since.
Now it wasn’t as easy as that obviously, because I’m still not paying the bills with my writing. But every day brings me closer.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Time. Time has been my biggest struggle. All but one of my books was written before my first daughter was born that alone takes up a lot of time. But then there was Covid, in which I was taking care of my daughter because she couldn’t go to school. And then I got brain cancer, and then my in-laws both passed away. And of course, my wife and I just had a new baby girl. So needless to say, I’ve had a few life events sprinkled throughout the years to keep me from writing.
Marketing has also been the biggest hump to get over, and still getting over. I have tried multiple ways to advertise my books, including hiring experts in the field, but to no avail. I’m not sure what the magic trick is, because I’ve seen several less talented authors sell crazy amounts of books. But for now, I just keep writing more books and getting my name out there.
The last “struggle” is getting customers to review my books. I have sold over 15,000 of the first Beyond the After book, and to date I only have 124 reviews. It’s like pulling teeth from a crocodile.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now, my books are focused on children of all ages from early readers to YA fantasy chapter books. However, hopefully in the next year or so, I’ll have my middle grade Goosebumps type story Have you Seen This Dog? and from my Stephen King side of my brain, a collection of terrifying tales.
I’m most proud of my Beyond the After series. It’s been amazing to carrying on the stories of some of the most beloved princesses. Who wouldn’t want to know what happens after the “happily ever after”? I’ve had a lot of fun integrating the three tales without changing what we grew up loving. Creating new characters and expanding their world has been an absolute joy. I do have the whole thing planned out so I know where I’m going, but sometimes even I don’t know how the details will will get me to the end which makes it an adventure for me too.
I think what sets me apart from most children’s author or author’s in general is when I do an author visit to schools, I don’t just do one big assembly presentation. Having my degree in child development, I know that children’s brains have different levels of what they find interesting and entertaining. So at the minimum, I’ll do three presentations to fit the age range of the children. Each one has different material and different books that I share with the group of students.
The thing I absolutely enjoy doing the most is school visits. Working with children for most of my life, I’m still drawn to entertaining them and educating them in an engaging way. So if any readers are in the Dallas area, shoot me an email events@authorcmhealy.com as I would love to visit your child’s school.
Another thing I’ve noticed my readers love is I let them choose a color to sign their book in. I usually have a rainbow of colors (and have actually done a book in all the colors) for them to pick from.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have so many wonderful memories, but probably my most favorite are the ones with my grandparents, specifically my grandpa. He was a family man, and I was fortunate enough to have them both live just down the street from me (like literally two houses down) for most of my life. He would always hide the Easter eggs my brother and I decorated when we went to church, but he would hide them individually with clues as to where the next one was. My brother and I would go back and forth between the two houses deciphering clues.
Pricing:
- $10-$15 books
- $200 half-day (3 presentations) author visit
- $400 full-day (6 presentations) author visit
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.authorcmhealy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorcmhealy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcmhealy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CMHealy/videos
