Getting to know Kristen Heitzmann

Kristen Heitzmann's books are always intriguing and Freefall is one of my all time favourite stories. Wife, mum, musician and author, I was delighted Kristen could fit in an interview in her busy schedule!

Have fun learning about Kristen :)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what one object would you want with you? (Besides your Bible, of course)

Ice water!

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A mom. As a child I loved art, music, and storytelling, but I never saw myself as a professional person. I always wanted a family.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Ireland/Scotland/Wales, Northern Italy, and New Zealand

Besides God, who has influenced you the most?

My husband, Jim. We're total opposites. He's planned; I'm spontaneous. I like change; he resists--until he realizes I'm right. J Friction makes sparks and hones edges! After 27 years, it also mellows out the differences until you can laugh at them.

What's your favourite book?

Currently, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow

What part of your daily routine do you enjoy most?

Going out on my porch in the early morning to pray or work while the does with their fawns come to sample my flower garden

Where's the most interesting place you have been?

Hawaii. It's still pretty wild and natural.

What's your most fervent prayer?

To be an instrument of God's grace.

What is your favourite Bible verse (or one of your favourites) and what does it mean to you?

Romans 8:38

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I rest all that I do in the assurance that God's all-encompassing love will never fail.

Ask your children one thing they think is special about you and share it with us, please!

My ability to be weird makes me more fun than most moms (quoth Trevor, 15).

The Edge of Recall

I was fascinated by the spiritual history of labyrinths ~ did you know their background before you wrote this story?

Actually, my daughter Jessica came up with the idea of labyrinths as Tessa's landscape speciality. I was not familiar with them spiritually, but thought the idea of a prayer walk with the purpose of seeking divine wisdom intriguing. Tessa's need to communicate with God intellectually, without having to relate intimately, worked well with the labyrinth motif. I have to say, having walked one, I'm way too impatient to find it peaceful or effective.

Why did you make Tessa so fragile emotionally, and how did you manage to make her likeable despite her prickliness?

I was in a pretty fragile place myself, lots of doubt and fear. I think that informed Tessa a little, but I also just wanted to write an unreliable narrator. Not knowing whether Tessa was overreacting or imagining or even dreaming added an edge to the suspense. Likeable? I have eggshell friends I love very much. They're only prickly if you poke them, and once they know you love them you can even poke a little--as Smith could not resist with Tessa. I think what made Tessa work was her understanding of herself as flawed. What annoys people are the ones who can't or won't see their issues.

I really loved Smith and the accuracy of his British vocabulary ~ how did you manage to get his “accent“ so spot on?

Having read a ton of British literature growing up, I hear that intonation clearly in my head. I researched the current idioms and tried to use only enough to season the dialogue.

What are you working on at the moment? A sneak peek, please.

I just turned in a book for the general market that is both dark and deeply redemptive.

In The Hunt, men are predators, women the prey, children a deadly hazard. The Rules of Contact drive their lives--rules that draw from the deepest depravities and primal drives in a warped distortion of order, a code that has formed those born inside.

A medical resident, Claire Boudreaux is swept into a place of life-threatening depravity that presses her to deadly extremes.

Rafe, a man born to violence, believes following the rules separates him from the monsters, until he learns that even the rules are monstrous.

A visionary human rights advocate, McKee Gallagher fights for his ideals when they collide with true evil.

A harrowing tale of light and darkness and a provocative reality not so far from the world above ground.

Thanks so much, Kristen :) I always look forward to your stories and The Hunt sounds fabulous!

Relz Reviewz Extras

Reviews of Freefall and Echoes

Visit Kristen's website

Buy Kristen's books from Amazon or Koorong