Heather A. Clark Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Heather A. Clark
Author Heather A. Clark was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario. She is a graduate of the University of Guelph, she worked in advertising before she moved on to the marketing department at one of Canada’s largest media outlets.
Heather is not a trained writer, only having taken high school English, which includes the specialized Writer’s Craft course that was offered. She got her Bachelor of Commerce degree, and worked in the corporate world for twelve years.

But amid all of the contract signing and the number crunching in her day-to-day life in the business world, there were two things that always kept rising to the surface. The first was her mom’s small voice in the back of her mind telling her again and again that she was born to write. The second was her own need to write.

Since she learned how to read her favorite “Sweet Valley Twins” series during her childhood, Heather has always dreamed of writing a book of her own. This dream came true in April of 2012 when “Chai Tea Sunday”, her first novel, was published in the United States and Canada.

She started writing this novel as a creative outlet and a “me project” during her maternity leave with her second kid. After she and her husband would tuck their children into bed for the night or during their nap time, she would cozy up to her computer and focus her attention of the journey of Nicky Fowler, who is the inspirational and strong woman that finds hope in a world that is fraught with adversity through never-ending determination and the unfaltering bravery.

The story is inspired by her cousin Rachel’s own teaching experiences in Kenya. She was moved by the tales of all the remarkable orphans that gave an incredible amount of unconditional love. Heather never went to Kenya while writing the novel, instead relying on her cousin’s pictures, stories, journals, and pictures.

It was difficult at times. There were quite a few nights when she would have much preferred to watch a film with her husband or go for some red wine with some girlfriends than write another page. But she had a determination to finish her book. At the time, she was on a deadline and had to return to her job.

When not busy writing Heather enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, reading, and drinking red wine with her girlfriends.

“Chai Tea Sunday” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2012. A woman’s bravery in the face of personal tragedy.

Nicky Fowler, age thirty-three, believed that she had a perfect life: a loving husband, a fantastic job as a third-grade teacher, and a suburban dream home. The sole thing missing was a kid of her own. When complex fertility issues lead to a heartbreaking tragedy, Nicky’s marriage crumbles quickly. She struggles to cope with the brutal realities of her new life. Emotionally lost, she takes a volunteer teaching job at an orphanage in Kenya.

But she quickly discovers that life in Africa is tougher than she expected. There is violence everywhere, drought has pushed the country into famine, and the air has become filled with the ceaseless stench of burnt garbage smoke. Worst of all, Nicky learns that Jebet, who is the jaded orphanage director that never married and lost her family during the post-election violence in 2007, takes all of her hatred for the world out on the orphans.

Nicky, throughout her entire tumultuous stay in Kenya, finds the strength in her host mom, Mama Bu, who listens to all of her worries and provides her with wise advice over cups of chai, the signature drink of Kenya. Nicky realizes, with Mama Bu’s guidance, realizes just what she has to do in order to help the endangered orphans that she has grown to love and, within this journey, she starts to heal.

“Chai Tea Sunday” celebrates the power of hope in the face of adversity and the resilience of the heart.

Fans of the novel found this to be a beautifully written novel on love, life, living, and loss. The emotions and the characters are incredibly real, and, at times, raw to the point where it feels like you are actually experiencing their circumstances yourself. Heather’s descriptions help make you feel as though you are actually in Africa with Nicky.

“Elephant in the Sky” is the second stand alone novel and was released in the year 2014. A testament to the healing power of unconditional love. This time around, Heather tackles subject of childhood mental illness and the impact that it has on a close family.

The story starts from the point of view of Nate, who is nine years old, who etches the details of an unbalanced mind struggles to make sense of heightened paranoia and rampant thought patterns. He vanishes into a world of his own making, fault lines start showing up in his formerly happy family.

Enter Ashley, Nate’s mom, as well as a hard working ad exec that is concerned that she isn’t giving her family enough of her time, particularly now that she senses that something may be wrong with her son. While Nate’s mom and sister begin adjusting to a troubling and new reality, they must re-evaluate everything they believed they knew about themselves and their future together.

While the story moves back and forth deftly between these two perspectives, the narrative begins to converge to reveal a family’s journey of discovery while they strive to find a balance in their lives.

Readers found this novel to be an unflinching, brave portrait of childhood mental illness, and a meditation on what it truly means to be a family. Fans found themselves getting hooked immediately on this and they just could not put it down. Some enjoyed getting to see what mental illness is like for a nine year old child and how it effects his mom as well as the entire family. Some readers found that they could almost feel the pain the family was feeling too.