Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We’ll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.

The winner from last week’s Author Spotlight with MaryAnn Diorio is Dianna Bupp! Please email my assistant Christen with your mailing address. (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com)

This week please welcome Kristen Heitzmann in the spotlight! To win a copy of her book The Breath of Dawn, leave a comment on this post!

Hi Suzanne! Thanks for this fun time.

I’m married, have 4 grown kids and 2 wondrous grandchildren. (almost 4 and 2 years old) I live and write in the Colorado Rocky Mountain foothills with my husband, extended family, pets and wildlife. I write historical series and contemporary romantic and psychological suspense. My 20th title The Breath of Dawn released Nov. 1st, and it was too much fun to spend more time with some favorite characters in the Spencer family.

I started writing because I couldn’t help myself. For me, stories happen. And not always opportunely! I never really dreamed of being published until it landed on my heart to do something about it. The rest was pure grace.

I wrote my first novel and most of a second before attempting to make anything public. I attended two writer’s conferences to learn some ropes, and pitched my work to two publishers. One of them accepted the stories and contracted a series. It’s been my joy to create novels ever since.

Getting out on the mountain trails behind my home enervates and energizes better than anything else I do. It was hiking out there, listening to an old playlist that brought Morgan Spencer right back to my mind and conjured the opening scene of The Breath of Dawn. I had no idea I was going to be writing that one!

On any given day, I write as many hours as the stories come. I also have a treadmill desk, so if I can’t get outside, I can walk and write at once. It looks out at my landscaped creek where herds of mule deer visit and birds frolic. With our changeable weather, it’s never dull.

As a homeschool mom, the writer’s life just kind of melded into who we were already. Now it’s more front and center, and I couldn’t imagine anything else.

Most of my books were contracted without an agent, but since acquiring one, I find the peace of mind and partnership quite valuable.

I would advise new writers to love the process. Work to perfect the craft. Trust God’s wisdom and timing.

Having lived through the Waldo Canyon Fire that decimated the western side of Colorado Springs, coming within 200 yards of our house and destroying so many others, I’m writing a wildland fire novel set in my fictional town of Redford found in my novels Indivisible and Indelible. I’m also toying with a romantic comedy set in NYC.

My books are available at Christian and local bookstores, online at Amazon, CBD, and Barnes and Noble.

You can contact me on Facebook: Author Kristen Heitzmann, Twitter: KFHeitzmann, or www.kristenheitzmannbooks.com I would love to hear from you!

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