Heather Leigh

While working on my master's thesis in environmental economics, I found that I was more interested in writing a fictional story about a dragonfly than researching the sewage lagoon where the dragonfly would be living. My author dream manifested into reality with the publication of first book 'Hey Little Baby' through Simon and Schuster. The idea for that book came from watching my then five-month-old son discovering that the movement of his feet was his own doing. He was wearing booties with bells attached. Each time he shook his feet, a jingle sound came out. I could see his little fat face open to the realization that he was the one causing the sound, not some remote source with no explanation. The original text to the story poured into my head and I rushed for paper and pen.

After that, ideas and stories kept coming; from the published baby book to a young adult novel about telepathy in a dangerously polite world, 'Red Nectar'. It contains adventure, romance, and danger with fifteen-year-old Emily and her new love interest, Andrew, the boy with eyes the color of ocean waves. Recently I published my first non-fiction eBook, 'Are You An Intelligent Massage Therapist? Then You Need To Be Working At A Luxury Day Spa". This book provided me the opportunity to re-live the ten years spent in this enjoyable field and be able to assist other therapists in getting into this tight market. 'Scout and Ellie' is the culmination of too many versions and formats to remember. It started as a book about Scout and his many birthday adventures and has finally been pinned down into a middle grade chapter book about a boy and the elephant who lives in the back yard. She is wild and fun with a big personality, and Scout tries to keep up with her antics. I love the many genres that writing has to choose from.

During the school day hours, I walk our spoiled Australian Shepherd and then get to work on forming words into stories. Our cats let me know when it is break time by walking in front of the computer monitor and meowing loudly for attention. Afternoons are for hanging out with my two sons, cooking and all that household stuff. As we live near the beach in sunny San Diego, weekends are for surf (the boys--not me) and outdoor activities. Sounds like a wonderful life to me.