Heather W. Cobham

I was born on Long Island, New York and moved to Clinton, North Carolina when I was five. I grew up in Clinton and consider myself a Southerner since most of my memories come from south of the Mason Dixon line. I attended Wake Forest University where I majored in health and sports science and then went on to UNC Chapel Hill to receive a Master’s in Exercise Physiology and a Master’s in Social Work 12 years later.

I’ve loved writing most of my life and have diaries full of poetry from elementary and middle school. I wrote a short story series for my middle school paper and always loved my creative writing assignments in English classes. Until I began Hungry Mother Creek my writing was limited to occasional poems, journaling and required writing for my schooling or jobs. For the better part of my adult life I had a sense I wanted to write a book, but nothing beyond that. In May of 2007, while standing by the waters of the Neuse River in Oriental, North Carolina, the inspiration for Hungry Mother Creek struck me with such force that I began jotting down ideas that day. Later that month I signed up for a weeklong writing retreat in the mountains of North Carolina.

For the next five years I squeezed writing in between my full time work, play and time with family and friends. While writing Hungry Mother Creek, I was living with my husband and yellow lab in Wake Forest, North Carolina and traveling down to our second home in Oriental for most weekends and vacations. Just as I finished the edits on this novel, we became full-time residents of Oriental, opting for a more simple life by the water. I completed The Mother Tree and Calling the Circle in less time, thanks to a more flexible schedule and the wonderful support and encouragement from my community in Oriental.

I work three days a week in New Bern, North Carolina as a counselor and use the other two days and the weekends for writing. To keep my creative juices flowing I run, hike, paddle board, do yoga and read.