Author: Heather Grace Stewart

Bestselling Amazon author, speaker, and poet, Heather Grace Stewart was born in Ottawa, ON, and currently lives near Montreal, QC with her husband, their young adult in college, and a siamese-orange-tabby cat who eats everything. Trained as a newspaper and magazine journalist, Heather started her career as a poet and novelist after publishing this blog in 2008. At the time it was titled WHERE THE BUTTERFLIES GO, and it became her first poetry collection. More Info, Books and Media: http://heathergracestewart.com
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Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Magic: Why I Write Romcoms

When I first became a published poet, I never imagined I’d end up writing romantic comedies. But somehow, poetry led me to screenplay writing, and that led me to prose, and prose led me to falling head over heels… for writing stories about people who fall head over heels.

These days, my romcoms explore all kinds of love: contemporary stories grounded in real-life awkwardness and joy, and magical ones where enchantment sneaks into everyday life.

What do they all share?

✨ Swoonworthy heroes who make your heart skip.

✨ Feisty heroines who say what they mean and know how to kick some serious butt

✨ And love that shows up in the oddest circumstances: free round-the-world plane tickets, accidental double bookings, piglets leaping out of transport trucks, surprise leaps back in time.

I write romance with main characters in their late 20s to early 40s, because that’s when many of us are still figuring ourselves out. I want to remind readers that love doesn’t have a timeline.

Love just happens, usually when you least expect it, and more often than not, it arrives with a touch of comedy, like a wink from the universe.

And yes, there’s still poetry. I can’t help myself. It’s tucked into the rhythm of my sentences, the way my characters see the world, shaping my metaphors, the rhythm of my prose and the way my characters speak and feel.

But through it all, there’s been a constant magic: you.

To my WordPress family, my Goodreads friends, my Insta family, my Facebook readers, and the Threaders I chat with on a daily basis—thank you!

Your comments, reviews, DMs, email notes, and hugs (so glad we can do that again!) at book events make this writing life feel less like a job and more like a shared adventure.

You cheer me on when finding the right words feels tricky, and you celebrate with me when the characters finally kiss (or leap back in time!).

I write these books to make you laugh, swoon, and help you to believe that love can crash into your life in the oddest—and most wonderful—ways.

So if you’ve ever picked up The Ticket, Good Nights, Lauren from Last Night, Lucky, The Love Leap, or any of my other books, this is a hug from me to you.

With love and gratitude,

Heather đź’–

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Expert Writing Advice I’m Glad I Followed

Author Heather Grace Stewart
Love Again Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DYF8YKD?searchxofy=true&binding=kindle_edition&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tkin&qid=1643837124&sr=8-1

From my high school English teacher to Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin, these conversations with writers have helped me succeed

I’ve received a lot of valuable writing advice over the years, and it was all free. Yup. Free! These kind people graciously gave of their time and expertise to help this Canadian writer from small-town-Ontario get to where she is now. Where am I again?

But I jest. I’m grateful to have Amazon bestselling novels, audiobooks and scripts after 26 years of working as a professional writer, and I have these and other writers to thank. Unless I’ve added quotes because I got the advice in writing, these are memories from our conversations—some of which took place 35 years ago! and not direct quotes.

Sally Smith, former editor of The Kanata Kourier and my first writing mentor (I was 15!)

Write with your heart, edit with your mind.

Frances Connolly, my amazing high school English and creative writing teacher

Don’t forget to add in taste as a description. We often read about the sense: vision, sound, even feel, sometimes we get scents, but authors often forget to describe flavours. Cover the whole spectrum of senses for maximum emotional impact in your reader.

Aaron Sorkin, Oscar-winning Screenwriter, Playwright and Film Director (The West Wing, The Social Network, Being the Ricardos)

I asked him what to do when a sub-character won’t shut up:

“Strictly speaking if you’re writing page after page that doesn’t have anything to do with your story, you might be writing a different story than you think. Intention and obstacle. Forward motion. You have to make your words do something.”

I asked him his thoughts on recycling our own material:

“Some things are just always sexy, and some things are just always funny.”

When I pressed him: what’s always funny? I got “Cheese.” Me: “But not Gouda! That’s smelly.” Him: “Not actual cheese. The word cheese.”

You might notice I make a reference to cheese in nearly every single work I’ve written since 2010. I always will. Maybe it’s not funny anymore, but you can all look for this Easter egg in my work and smile now, knowing where it came from, and that it’s my way of saying thanks.

Michael J. Weithorn, award-winning writer-producer-director (King of Queen’s, A Little Help, The Sidekick, Weird Loners)

You can always increase the tension. Tear your character’s world apart dramatically. It makes for the falling back together at the end more powerful. 

 Ken Cuthbertson, award-winning author and former editor, Queen’s Alumni Review magazine

Every time you write, make sure you teach the reader something. When they’re finished the article, they should always have new information and hopefully a new perspective.

We’re a helpful bunch, because we know the struggle is real.

The moral of my story is: if you don’t ask, you don’t get! So, don’t be shy. Ask a writer you admire a question. Maybe you can find them on social media, or if you’re lucky, in line at registration at a writers conference. But buy them a book, not a drink. Times have changed.

Writers are usually willing to help those who remind them of where they started. I know I am -but please let’s pretend I’m still 26.

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Happy Half Hour with Heather Grace Stewart!

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Let’s Go Stargazing with Canadian Poet Heather Grace Stewart

My sixth poetry collection is an offering of rhyming and free verse poems to try to soothe our weary souls. We might be stuck inside this winter, apart from our family and friends, but we can still go Stargazing. Enjoy.

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Dear Loyal Blog Readers

I’ve neglected you bloggy friends.

I could use the excuse that 2020 has been hard, but it’s not just that. Juggling everything I have to juggle as a business owner and author has been hard. I started my fiction career off in WordPress, with you wonderful blogger pals reading and commenting on my poems. I had the time back then (a decade ago!) to visit all of you on a weekly basis, and I thought I’d keep posting here weekly and staying in touch.

With all that I’ve had to manage, I’ve not lived up to my own expectations for that, and I apologize – but I’m trying to pop in here when I do an online reading, at least, so that you don’t miss this if you aren’t a fan of social media.

If you DO like social media, I’m often on Instagram and Twitter once a day, and on my Owl Be Reading group (where you can win prizes!) weekly. So please check those out when you can!

Here’s my latest poetry reading. I was reading from Where the Butterflies Go, which was once the title of this blog, so I had to post it here! I also read from Three Spaces and Caged, and a little of my second novel, Remarkably Great. Enjoy. And be good to yourselves. I may get busy, but I never forget about you.

xo Heather