Hello, dear readers, I hope your new year is off to a spectacular start! If you’re new to my site, I’m Heather Morris (not the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, not THAT Heather Morris, that’s another writing story for another day) and I write a little bit of everything. Fiction, nonfiction, children’s, adult, but always with a smattering of science.
And, truly, middle grade writing has stolen my heart. That’s probably because, at my core, I am still somewhere between ages 10-12. 🙂
It’s taken a little longer this January, but I always enjoy doing these posts where I can recap some of the highlights…and in this post, I plan to throw in some of the hard stuff too…from the past year.
As I did last year, I’ll summarize the next steps of my writing journey in two main categories: writing and events.
Writing
The following writing projects are the result of years of research, writing, revision, submission, and study. Not to mention hundreds of rejections along the way. But ultimately, whether it is my original idea or a publisher’s, I love writing…especially writing for kids!
2 Books for the Educational Market/1 Short Story in an Anthology
In 2024, I finished work on these two hi-lo leveled readers for Reference Point Press, a fantastic publisher that specializes in high interest, low reading level series for high schoolers! It was great fun to use all the connections and knowledge I’d built up while at NASA.
My short story – “The Harbert Curse” – a classic mystery written for an adult audience – was published by Murderous Ink Press as part of their anthology, Chicka Chicka Boomba. You can grab a copy of this fun collection featuring all-female protagonists on Amazon!
2 additional books/stories under contract
In April of 2025, I was beyond thrilled to sell my third picture book manuscript, Dribble, Shoot, Swish: A Basketball Story to Sandra Sutter at Gnome Road Publishing. LaTonya Jackson quickly signed on as the illustrator – her work is STUNNING! – and this picture book ode to the sights, sounds, and community found at a rec league basketball game will come out just in time for March Madness 2027!
In late summer, I was contacted about writing another book for BrightPoint Press/Reference Point Press as part of their “Jobs in the Sports Industry” series. Since that is what my oldest wants to do, I could NOT turn it down! Business Jobs in Sports will release Fall 2027.
For more information about the write-for-hire market, you may want to check out the presentation that I gave along with Heather L. Montgomery (her website here):
Jump Start: Breaking Into the Write-for-Hire Market
More writing
A few more interesting items:
- I had the opportunity to work on a special project proposal thanks to my amazing agent!
- My agent kept 2 of my picture book manuscripts out on submission
- I wrote over 100,000 words this year! 2025 was the year that I committed to focusing on middle grade novels. I took a class with Amy Sparkes (The House at the Edge of Magic) in January. It was amazing! I highly recommend! After that, I wrote a rough draft of a novel, rewrote that novel almost completely, and then wrote another novel rather unexpectedly. It’s official, I do love writing middle grade. 🙂
School Visits and Conferences and More
In 2025, I worked to increase the variety of my school visit presentation offerings. I now have five presentations for grades Pre-K through 8th grade that focus on everything from science to the writing process to observation to ghost stories! Fun!
Check out my Author Visit page for more details.
Here’s an overview:
- Five author visits at private and public schools in Alabama and Mississippi
- Co-Presented multiple sessions at the Kaigler Literary Festival with Hallie Christensen
- Nine book festivals and pop-up shops throughout the year
- My first time visiting the National Council for Teachers of English Conference this year! In Denver! Amazing!
- Trunk Goes Thunk won FOUR awards/honors in 2025.
2025 had its share of hard times – both professionally and personally. But some of those hardships sparked unexpected joys.
Thanks for following along on this writing journey with me! It certainly has its twists and turns, its ups and downs. But the overall story…and the people you meet along the way (especially all of you reading all the way to the end! :))…are definitely worth it!
Heather C. Morris 
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