Uniontown couple enjoys big year for published books
As published writers, Heidi and Jason Miller seem to be on a roll.
The Uniontown couple already has seen the release of three books they helped write this year, and, if everything goes as planned, they should have another two to add to their portfolio by year鈥檚 end.
Just released in May by Headline Books, the 469-page 鈥淢any Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction鈥� is already being used as a textbook in the writing program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, as well as at colleges and universities across the nation.
鈥淭he book is a useful guide for writers of all levels and is really the only guide a writer might need because it鈥檚 so comprehensive,鈥� said Heidi Miller, who co-edited the book with Dr. Michael Arnzen, chairman of the Humanities Department at Seton Hill.
The book is divided into four sections that deal with the craft or mechanics of writing, with specific genres such as sci-fi, romance, horror or fantasy, with the writer鈥檚 life that include tips on seeking critical groups or other writing communities and with the business and marketing of writing.
The book took wing two years ago when Arnzen approached Heidi Miller with an idea he had for compiling a guide based on the Writing of Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill and asked her to act as co-editor.
Agreeing to work on the project, Heidi Miller and Arnzen sent out an 鈥渁ll-call鈥� email to Seton Hill writing mentors or alumni of the writing program looking for contributors. They received about 50 responses, but after publisher Cathy Teets suggested they expand the book even more, they sent out another round of emails and made numerous phone calls looking for addition contributors.
鈥淭he book has a total of 65 contributors, all of which are affiliated in some way with Seton Hill College,鈥� Heidi Miller said. 鈥淭hey include several New York Times best-selling authors such as David Morrell, creator of 鈥楻ambo,鈥� and Tess Gerritsen, an author whose works were made into the 鈥楻izolli and Isles鈥� television series.鈥�
Heidi Miller鈥檚 husband, Jason, contributed two articles to the guide, one on magical realism and the other on setting. The book is available in most bookstores as well as online at amazon.com.
In May, both Heidi Miller, 38, and Jason Miller, 37, saw the publication of their debut novels. Heidi Miller鈥檚 鈥淎mbasadora鈥� is a sci-fi romance, while Jason Miller鈥檚 鈥淭he Devil and Preston Black鈥� is a dark suspense novel. Both are available as ebooks, too.
鈥淲hile Heidi and I both have written other novels, these two are the first to be published,鈥� said Jason Miller. 鈥淏oth are intended to become part of a series. In fact we鈥檝e already started on the sequels, which we expect to release this fall.鈥�
The Millers met at Uniontown Mall in 1994 and were married in June 1998. Both attended California University of Pennsylvania from 1993 to 1997, where he majored in earth and space science. He teaches the same subject at Uniontown Area Senior High School.
At Cal U, Heidi Miller studied archaeology and anthropology and now works as a freelance writer and editor and is an adjunct faculty member with Seton Hill鈥檚 writing department, as is her husband.
Both Millers enrolled in the master鈥檚 program in writing popular fiction at Seton Hill, where they earned their master of arts degrees in 2007.
In 2006, the Millers co-authored a travel book 鈥淢oon Pennsylvania Camping,鈥� published by Avalon Travel. Jason Miller took almost all the photos for the nearly 400-page book, which is available at amazon.com. The book is also available at Bradley鈥檚 Books in Uniontown.