Biography:
I wear a lot of hats, worked at some really great jobs, and I've moved around a lot. I'm a
partner, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a mom, a grammy of nine, a friend, but I'm also a
poet, writer, and an author -- I have three children's books, plus a new collection of short
stories. I love writing. Besides poetry for adults and children, I write fiction and
nonfiction, memoirs, essays, three different blogs, and I maintain my twelve year-old
website.
I grew up in Coshocton, Ohio, the oldest of six children. Since then, I've lived in North
Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, and California. Right
now, I live in Pennsylvania with my partner, Robert Cosmar, who is also a writer and author.
Interestingly, he's also from Coshocton, and like me, proud to be an Ohio "Buckeye".
I am also a Vietnam War widow. My husband, Douglas S. Kempf, was a decorated combat
medic, who was killed when he risked his life to help the wounded as his platoon was
ambushed on September 5, 1969. He was awarded seven medals posthumously, including
the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with first oak leaf cluster.
See? I really have worn a lot of hats. I've also been a flight attendant, co-owner of an
antique-gift shop, an executive secretary, senior records clerk for detectives in a police
department, a children's columnist, and I've written radio advertising and sold insurance.
I guess I just never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
A writer is what I am.
A writer is what I'll be,
for writing is so very much
an important part of me.
~CJ
Some of my work has been published by:
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Castle Rock Research
Rubicon Publishing
Poetry Quarterly
SRA/McGraw-Hill
JFC Publishing House
Grande Prairie Regional College
True Poet Magazine
Bluegrass Publishing
TeachingPoint
Dane Publishing House
Your Big Backyard Magazine
CTB/McGraw-Hill
Steel Point Quarterly
Tales 'n Rhyme Magazine
FLASH!POINT Journal
Writers Digest Books
Mature Living Magazine
Distance Learning
Purpose Magazine
Design Workshop
New Hampshire Magazine.
For poetry workshops, school visits, presentation fees, references and availability, please
call 814-249-1777, or go to the appropriate pages here on the website.
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| C J Heck |
The Child Within Down inside this grownup lives the child that used to be. When I look in my mirror, she stares right back at me. Now that I'm a grownup, it's an older face I see, but the child's still there, just hiding, way down deep inside of me. Sometimes, we work together, that little girl and me. She comes up from her hiding place and we write poetry. I like being grownup and I wouldn't want to swap, well ... maybe a little younger face and no gray hair on top. Hugs, CJ |
"May you always see the world through the eyes of a child." ~CJ Heck |
"Barking Spiders 2" was a 2011 Cybils Children's Book Award Nominee in the Poetry Category! |
All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced in any form, by any means, other than brief quotations or printed reviews, without prior permission of the author. |
| CJ at Four |
"I love learning new words, especially when they are
explained with such diaphanous clarity. Whether she
talks of love, children, life, or any other subject, CJ's
words are always clear and harmonious. She makes us
forget that easy to read is hard to write." ~Marc (BookRix)