Heather Hambel Curley

Heather Hambel Curley writes historical fiction and paranormal romance.

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The daughter of a US Army Chaplain/Baptist Minister, Heather was born in West Virginia and grew up in Western Pennsylvania.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Robert Morris University in 2004, with a degree in Communications.  

 

Heather has done Civil War reenacting since 2001 and currently is a member of the Baltimore Light Artillery, a living history group that performs artillery demonstrations at parks such as Gettysburg National Military Park, Antietam National Battlefield, and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.  Previously, Heather was a volunteer with the living history and archeology departments at Harpers Ferry.

 

Heather lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband, William, and two sons.  She is a claims analyst with an insurance company.

 

When not writing, working, or being Mom, Heather blogs weekly at her site, The Rambling Jour.  Visit her here!

 

 

A Less Serious About Me

 

In the last century, back in 1992 when colors were neon and hair was big, I started writing a story.  The story, which started out as the typical day of a fourth grader, morphed into a tale of six unattended fourth graders locked in a haunted house.  I was also obsessed with a book called Ghost Cadet, about the 1864 Battle of New Market.

 

Fast forward three years to mighty 1995.  I was now an awkward seventh grader with awkward bangs.  My mom took me a Civil War reenactment in Chillicothe, Ohio.  My obsession with the Civil War was now firmly cemented.  Gorgeous dresses, dashing men on horseback?  Sign me up.  I continued to write stories about ghosts and boys (sometimes boy ghosts), but the connection to writing about history hadn't taken hold....yet....

 

...the dawn of a new century.  In 2000, I graduated high school and said, "I'm not going to college!  I'm going to take a year off and LIVE!"  So, in the fall of 2000, I started college at Robert Morris University because my parents said so, and in 2001, I took a Civil War Trip class for my history elective.  We only had a handful of classes and spent the majority of credit-earning-time on a trip to Manassas, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Gettysburg.  And on a side note, this was the only time in my life I've been openly mocked for being a "goodie two shoes" because I didn't have a one night stand in Georgetown when apparently other people were.  I'm a nerd with morals.

 

When I got home from the trip, I was locked in Civil War mode.  I started writing about the war and decided I wanted to start Civil War reenacting.  I did a random, AOL Instant Messenger search for other Civil War reenactors who I could learn from.  I found this kid online who went to college in central Pennsylvania.  I messaged him and asked him about reenacting.

 

He responded, "Who are you?"

 

I said, "I just want to learn about reenacting and saw you're from Pennsylvania.  So am I."

 

He said, "Look.  I'm my way to a tractor pull right now."

 

I ended up marrying that boy two years later, right before he deployed overseas with the US Army.  We're still married and have two boys, one named after a Civil War soldier and one named after my grandfather, who fought in World War II.  I like to run.  I have anxiety.  I have a day job that stresses me out.  If I had a dollar for every time my kids whined, I'd be a billionaire in less than a week.  So, life, yeah? Crazy.

 

When I'm not writing about the Civil War, the Edwardian Era, WWII, or contemporary ghost stories, I'm blogging.  Sometimes I blog about writing, but more often than not it's about my adventures in reenacting, my awkward and sometimes insane life, and my ongoing obsession with Jeb Stuart, John Pelham, and rum.  And Sebastian Stan.  And Harry Styles.  You really should check out my blog, because it's pretty fun.  Click here (you know you want to).