Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Bennett.
Hi Heather, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story started on Long Island, a born and bred New Yorker. After college in a town outside of Buffalo, NY, I lived in the Netherlands for 4 years and returned back to the US where I made an 18-year pit-stop in Philadelphia before heading back to Long Island. Then I came to Dallas to visit some family and knew when I stepped off the plane, I found my home. I moved to Dallas within a year and never want to be anywhere else.
During the day, I’m a Marketing Manager for an engineering company in Irving, and love the work I do. I love the people I work with even more and can truly say I don’t dread going into the office every day. It’s an amazing feeling to have leadership that appreciates you and your role in the company.
In the last 2 years since I’ve been a Texas, I’m finding out about all the great places to visit! I’ve fallen in love with Caddo Lake and spend as much time visiting that spot as I can and look forward to exploring a whole lot more. I’m slowly building a list of ‘What’s Next?’
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never really a smooth road to success, is it? Unfortunately, you don’t know what you don’t know until you figure out what you don’t know! In hindsight, I’d say those struggles made me smarter showed me how amazing my support system is and the many ways they show up for me. From moral support to helping me pay my rent during COVID, offering me a room while I figured out my next steps. I’d be nowhere, literally, without them and their endless encouragement.
After the company I worked for closed without notice and left me unemployed, I did my best to find a new job and stay focused and positive. That’s where my writing came in. That’s where I could shut out the world and give my brain a respite from the fear and panic of having to find a new job. Same thing when I was let go during COVID – only that was a lot longer of a push trying to find a job when the world was shut down – but food, rent, and utilities still needed to be paid. Again, that support system came through, and I forced myself to focus on something productive and continued writing.
Now that the world is back up and running and I have my new outlook on taking my writing seriously, there are a whole other crop of things that I’m learning and leaning into embracing and figuring out. It’s supposed to be about the journey, right? You may as well make it a FUN one since you’re on it!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been writing all my life. My high school English teacher said I would be the next Danielle Steele! (Yikes!) In college, I majored in English with a concentration in Creative Writing – but amid globe-trotting and paying rent, my writing took a bit of a backburner.
I’m a sucker for band start-up documentaries. One day, after bingeing documentaries of David Bowie, followed by the History of the Eagles, then going down a rabbit hole of the Laurel Canyon singer/songwriters, my creative spark came back. I started writing about rock stars in the 70s.
While I was laid off from a previous position, I focused on the novel I had been writing as a way to give myself a focus and discipline while looking for a job. I published it in 2019.
After COVID got me laid off, I focused on another book I had and published that in 2020.
Once I moved to Dallas, I decided that I would take my writing much more seriously. I found an amazing critique group that meets locally once a week. I am part of an online writing group that meets for a full day every 2nd Saturday (going strong for almost 5 years now). I write or edit almost every day.
With that discipline, I launched my 3rd book, Flipping the Record, with much more success than the prior books. I’ve had book signings at two great indie bookstores in Grapevine and Denton! I’m an introvert by nature, so these things are a BIG DEAL to me. (I know, it’s shocking that a person who prefers to write things down might be nervous speaking to strangers, right?)
A short story of mine came in 2nd place when I entered it into a contest, and ‘Flipping the Record’ was chosen as an ‘Editor’s Pick’ in Publishers Weekly Booklife Reviews — such a boost to an author testing the waters and hoping to find readers. (Sally Field, anyone? ‘They like me! They really like me!’)
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
The following books may not necessarily help me ‘do my best,’ but they help me unwind and spark creativity and just darn enjoyable if you’re into this kind of thing:
Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood
by Michael Walker
Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
by Barney Hoskyns
Rock Me on the Water: 1974-The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics
by Ronald Brownstein
Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby
by David Crosby and Carl Gottlieb
Pricing:
- 15.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heatherjbennett.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherjbennett_official/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherjbennettnovelist/
Image Credits
Debbie Kruger
Kristen West
Gary Logan
