Author Profile: Heather Lester

When she was younger, Cincinnati author Heather Lester wrote scripts to make home movies with her siblings.  

She savored the poetry of Shel Silverstein (“I still can recite some of the poems today”) and the “intricate illustrations” of Richard Scarry. In high school she composed poetry.

Inspired by her children…

Today, this self-described “Mother, Author and Bookkeeper,” who still loves books with rhyme and detailed illustrations, finds literary inspiration from her three children.

The result : the publication of three colorful juvenile picture books, each with its own special theme : acceptance, the value of imagination, and kindness.

It all began with her first book, “I Love You For You,” published in 2017.

“This book idea came to me as my children grew and I realized that they are their own unique persons,” Lester recalls. “We can be the same in a lot of ways, but there are things they want to do that I would never choose. I want to encourage them to follow their own path and make sure they know I will always love and support them.”

Bookkeeper and the recipient of a business degree from Miami University, Lester followed her own new path when she converted a lifelong love of “writing and telling stories” into composing that first book. “I never really thought about writing a book until 2017,” she says.

Her imaginative children then inspired her to write another book after she observed them playing outdoors. “How many uses can you find for a stick from the yard?” Lester asks. “Well, my kids can find several!” Their inventiveness prompted Lester to write “The Green Scarf” which “inspires kids to be creative.”

Another Lester book, entitled “I Can Be Kind,” stemmed  from the author’s “hope for how I want my kids to be,” she says. “I can see the effort schools and parents are making these days to make sure kids are kinder to each other, and I wanted to write a book that shows them that changing the world can be done with a grand gesture, or it can be done with something as simple as being kind…

“So, yes, my children are a great inspiration for the books I write.”

Writing for the audience…

When composing juvenile literature, Lester always considers the age of her readers. “I’ve been writing for children ages 3 to 10,” she says. “You definitely have to take age into account. You need to make sure you use words they can understand and stories they can relate to,” she advises, crediting a book editor for “making sure I am using words appropriate for the age” of her audience. “There might be a lesson, it might be funny, it might be something they can see a role model in, or it might just be fun. I will never be able to appeal to every child in the world, but if I can connect to some, and I am happy with my work, then I think I have done my job well.”

The necessities : finding time to write, searching for an illustrator…

For Lester, “the most challenging part of the writing process is finding the time to write. I need more time to work out my ideas and finish some of the books I have started.”

The author uses her phone and scraps of paper to save ideas and later transfers the notes to her computer. Then she usually begins to write “at night after my kids are in bed.”

As an author of children’s picture books, Lester knows the value of a talented illustrator. Her search for these specialty artists has been successful.

She discovered Vicky Fieldhouse after perusing “pages and pages of illustrators” on a dedicated website. “I was just really drawn to her style,” Lester recalls. Fieldhouse eventually became the illustrator for “I Love You For You” and “The Green Scarf.”

The work of illustrator Amanda Appiarius is featured in Lester’s other book, “I Can Be Kind.”

“I saw Amanda’s work on another book she illustrated for a charity in Cincinnati and fell in love with her style,” Lester recalls. The end result was another successful collaboration between author and artist.

A finished manuscript, final checks, then on to publication…

Once a manuscript is finished, Lester has “lots of people read it before it goes to print,” she explains. “I can look it over a thousand times, think it’s perfect and then a friend will read it and point out a mistake I looked over. In addition to an editor, I think it is very important to get feedback from several people, especially my target audience of children.”

With manuscript and artwork good to go, publishing is the next step.

“I would describe my process as self-published,” says Lester. “I am working with the publishing house, ‘For Good Media.’ The owner has been amazing at providing advice and connections. She also secured my ISBNs (short for International Standard Book Numbers which uniquely identify a work). I could not have done all this without her…”

Introducing a book to the public…

These days, published work in hand, Lester enjoys “interacting with children in schools,” visiting bookstores and participating in book fairs.

“My favorite visit was when my son’s first-grade teacher asked me to come to the class and speak to the children,” she recalls. “It was fun to see the surprise in their eyes when they realized their friend’s mom is an author!”

“I had them do an activity, talked to them about the process of writing a book, and then read a few books to them, including one that was not released yet. I love getting feedback from children. They see things in a different way, and since they are the ones I’m writing for, I want to know what they think of my books and how I can improve them.”

There are more stories to tell…

The future looks bright -- and busy -- for this local author.

Lester currently has several children’s books “in the works” and is “considering writing middle-school and adult fiction. I feel like I have several stories to tell.” She says she’s “not afraid to cross over and write for different ages.”

Contemplating her literary achievements so far, this “Mother, Author and Bookkeeper” muses :

“It was all a leap of faith, but I am so glad I took the jump.”

MidPointe Library loves local authors!

Today’s featured author was one of many writers who greeted the public at MidPointe’s ReadLOCAL event last year at its West Chester location.

You can find all three of Heather Lester’s books at MidPointe’s website:

www.midpointelibrary.org > Catalog Search > Heather Lester

We’re also proud to feature local authors like Heather Lester on this monthly blog via our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/MidPointeLibrarySystem/

or directly at: https://www.midpointelibraryblog.org/blog/

Local authors are welcome to write and do research at any of MidPointe Library’s five locations -- Middletown, West Chester, Trenton, Monroe and Liberty Township (second floor, Liberty Center).

They can also reserve a meeting room at four of our locations : Middletown, West Chester, Trenton or Monroe by clicking here: http://midpointelibrary.evanced.info/spaces