We’re looking forward to introducing you to Alastair Heim. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Alastair, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Music. Not playing music, rather, listening to it. In addition to wearing out the songs I’ve been a fan of for years, I love going down a rabbit hole to discover new bands and tend to lose myself in their tuneful melodiousness for hours upon hours.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Sure! Here’s my official author bio…
Alastair Heim is the author of more than 20 children’s picture books including the #1 New York Times Best Selling official sequel to HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! titled HOW THE GRINCH LOST CHRISTMAS!, as well as HELLO DOOR, which was named one of The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2018, THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION, which won the 2019 Oklahoma Redbud Read-Aloud Award, and QUIET DOWN LOUD TOWN!, which was named a 2021 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. He has also written four books for Dr. Seuss Beginner Books titled IF I HAD YOUR VOTE, IF I RAN YOUR SCHOOL, IF I WERE SAINT NICK and IF I DROVE AN ICE CREAM TRUCK – all featuring The Cat in the Hat. He is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and lives in Kansas City with his wife and children.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
My dad, now retired, had a long career as a corporate accountant for a few different companies throughout his professional life. When I was a kid, I vividly remember him working for managers that treated him horribly, at times, and the toll it took on him. He’s an incredibly intelligent and hard working man who took a lot of pride in his work, but reported to people who were threatened by the potential of him taking their positions, or being promoted above their level. Seeing him go through those struggles made me bound and determined that I would never stay in a job or role that was killing my spirit – no matter how much it paid. To this day, I am someone who won’t put up with working for anyone who makes me feel less than.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
It took me nearly nine years, from the time I started trying to writing children’s picture books in 2008, to when my first book called LOVE YOU TOO was published in December of 2016. In the spring of 2011, I had every intention of giving up. I had spent two years writing as many stories as I could and another year and a half trying to get a literary agent to represent me – receiving rejections from everyone I queried (including my agent Kelly, whom I’ve been signed with for 14 years).
In May of 2011, I was having lunch with Ed Ball, one of my very best friends and the person I dedicated my fourth book called THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION to. I told him at that lunch that I was DONE. I had tried everything I could, queried every agent on the planet with no luck, and was giving up on trying to get published.
His exact words to me were, “No. You’re not.”
It was the initial encouragement from Ed, plus my wonderful wife, my amazing kids and several other people in my life that kept me going. Even after I “gave up” that day, I really couldn’t stopped writing new stories (I’m actually unable to stop), but I had gotten to the point where doubt was clouding everything, and the likelihood of failure in this endeavor was starting to set in as inevitable. But, just six months later, and after a very strange series of events (that Ed Ball played another large part in) I signed with Kelly Sonnack of The Andrea Brown Literary Agency in September of 2011.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Being someone who has the amazing, humbling honor of getting to write new Dr. Seuss books, I take the responsibility incredibly seriously in regards to storytelling and getting the rhyme and meter as “Seussian” and fail-proof as possible. Meaning, I want every reader to have a successful rhyming journey throughout my stories and I AGONIZE about the scansion (rhyming rhythm) of everything I write. There are times when ideas come to me very quickly and other times where it takes hours, days or even weeks to get the meter and rhymes just right. I despise near rhyme, which are words that “kind of” rhyme. So, my commitment to making my stories as lyrically effortless to read as possible is worth the time it takes to write them.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I feel like I am doing what I was born to do. I often get complimented on my work in a praiseful way that other, more egotistical people might interpret as them being better than everyone else because of what they can do (I have zero ego…just ask my wife). But the reality is, I’m a normal human dude who happens to have been born with a rhyming mind that is wired to write these stories. The reason I’m able to do what I can do is the same reason I could never be a doctor or an architect or chef or a teacher or any other profession my brain is not wired for. I am so INCREDIBLY lucky that my career path has lined up with how my brain works (not everyone is as fortunate).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alastairheim.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alastairheim
- Twitter: https://x.com/alastairheim
