Heidi R. Kling is an American author. Born and raised in California, she grew up all over the Golden State, changing schools every few years as her parents moved searching for the ‘ideal’ spot to raise their family.
From very early on, she discovered a love of writing and creating-whether her words were in the forms of songs or poems or neighborhood plays. Even if she was at a brand new school, she always felt at home putting pen or marker or crayon to paper.
In high school she discovered acting and was cast in the role of the whimsical Clarisse in the spring production of Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian story of a world without books; a bleak and disturbing future where books are banned-burned by fireman-and preserved only through people’s memories.
This story changed the way she viewed life and she decided she wanted to be a writer. For real.
At the University of California at Santa Cruz-an enchanting college nestled among redwood trees overlooking the Pacific Ocean she was introduced to the amazing world of literature. She studied Toni Morrison and Ernest Hemingway, and along with my merry band of creative writing hopefuls, helped save the creative writing major from being extinguished by a grouchy old professor who said, “No good books have been written this century, why have a creative writing major at all?” (True story!) Because of their protest, they ended up reinstating the major and she earned her degree in both literature and creative writing. Her YA short story, “Dear Mr. Moon” was published in a college anthology the year she graduated.
After college, she wrote and directed for her own children’s theatre along with then multi-talented boyfriend/now husband. Those were magical years watching my words being performed on the stage, being surrounded by engaging and talented teens and kids, living so close to the inspiring sea.
Sadly, the curtain had to fall when they relocated to New York for her hubby to attend medical school. Not a huge fan of change, she was terribly homesick for her beloved California, but found herself working in the most eclectic jobs of my life: a nursing home activities person and a costume shop employee. Many shenanigans ensued. Her creative energies sparked back to life, and she applied for a spot in the MFA Writing for Children program at the New School. Her imagination leaped picturing herself hanging out in hip, Greenwich Village coffee shops with edgy, beret-wearing writers. Turns out her imagination wasn’t that far off - though beret-sightings were few and far between - she did find the perfect setting to practice her voice and learn more about the genre of writing that seemed innate to her: writing for teens and young adults. It wasn’t until years later, after their son was born and they were living back in California, that she started writing the novel that would become her debut YA novel: Sea.
