Heather Harlen

Heather Harlen is a writer, teacher, writing consultant, and  curriculum designer.  She has a B.A. in English and a teaching degree, an M.A. in creative writing, and an M.Ed. She is the owner of Heart In Hand Writing Services, a company specializing in writing coaching and developmental editing. Heather and her husband live in Eastern Pennsylvania where she teaches high school English and is working on Book 3 of the Marina Konyeshna Trilogy.

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Medium •

Four Lessons From My High School English Zoom Room

If you would have told me in March 2020 that I still would still be teaching 9th graders via Zoom today, I would have laughed right in your unmasked face. It was incomprehensible. And here I am, living the work mullet life (business on the top, yoga pants on the bottom). My district is slated to go back to in-person in April, so I’ve been reflecting on my effective practices. Enjoy some ideas from my Coronavirus Teacher Toolkit: • Passing Notes Is SOOOO 2019: It’s amazing what you can accomplish
Medium •

Alone and Together: Teaching During The Pandemic

My friend Johanna hates camping with such verve I bought her one of those retro 50s sarcastic housewife magnets that says “I Love Not Camping.” So when she told me I needed to watch Alone on Netflix, I was intrigued. Alone is a reality competition show where outdoor survival specialists travel to a remote part of the world to survive with the bare minimum of supplies. The competitor who lasts the longest wins $500,000. Season 6 takes place in the Canadian Arctic. The participants’ neighbors are
Medium •

I Can’t Quit Carm: Looking at Mrs. Soprano With My Middle-Aged Eyes

In anticipation of The Saints of Newark and because I freakin’ love this show (said in a Jersey accent), this is the first in a series of essays on The Sopranos. On January 10, 1999, I was 24 and living in Russia. Working hard as a teacher in a public school in northeastern Moscow, I also played hard with my friends on the weekends, clubbing until 4 am. On January 10th, 1999, the world met someone on a very different life track, or so it seemed. Carmela Soprano entered living rooms in her crop
Angels Flight • literary west •

(Contributor) Homebound Heroes: How a Writing Workshop Became a Source of Strength in Quarantine •

In the chaos of the pandemic, it was hard to imagine that ‘Homebound Heroes: Pop Culture, Self-Care and Writing’ would become such a loving family. Meeting every Friday night was the highlight of the week for many of us as we laughed, cried and shared stories together. I realized just how blessed I was to have such amazing company. This may be a self-isolating time, but with such heroic and brave people, I was never alone. Heroes aren’t just people with super strength or impossible speed, they a
Spotify •

(Guest Host) Exploring Because You Matter

Listen to this episode from Keep Your Candle Lit on Spotify. What is the motivation for the book Because…You Matter? How did it shift from a vision to a reality? Suzie & guest host Heather Harlen explore the writing process, collaboration, and what lights Suzie up winter & other times of darkness. Suzie shares insight on what prompted her to pursue the Because…You Matter project as well as the intersection of self worth and identity.  “This is the now for this.” “She reached into my soul and pul
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

Review: Stamford ’76 by JoeAnn Hart

The music of Saturday Night Fever has been part of the soundtrack of my life, from the record spinning on my parents’ console stereo in the 1970s through college in the 1990s when the remixed title song was played in every frat house and club. I recently watched the movie for the first time, expecting two hours of great dancing and questionable fashion. Instead, I was shown a slice of youth culture where women are routinely called cunts and told they’re more likeable when they’re quiet. The patr
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

Review: Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-Tuk and Wheelchair by Suzanne Kamata

The mundane becomes a miracle when I look at the world through travelers’ eyes. A historical marker on a building can be a photo opp, and a pastry at a local bakery can become a revelation. Unfortunately, daily life turns the old Lenni Lenape jasper mines in my town into just an interesting footnote, or the church where the Liberty Bell was hidden becomes less interesting than the bourbon cocktail I’m looking forward to at the bar next door. This is why I need books like Squeaky Wheels: Travels
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

Review: Us Girls by Rachael J. Hughes

My period was late, so I asked for a pregnancy test at my annual exam. My family was in crisis and my husband and I were not ready for children, so I had my fingers crossed it was just stress messing with my body. In a fit of anxiety, I blurted to the nurse, “I hope it’s negative.” That nurse passed my urine test to another nurse, saying, with raised eyebrows, “She hopes it’s negative.” I was stunned and humiliated. If this was one of the premiere women’s health offices in the area, what was it
At The Inkwell •

Review: The Tree: A Journey To Freedom

Maps of The Underground Railroad do not exist, so the National Park Service has put together the Network to Freedom in order to educate the public. One of the sites is in Greensboro, North Carolina, on the campus of Guilford College where an old tulip poplar is thought to have been a waypoint for escaping slaves. In The Tree: A Journey To Freedom, Minnette Coleman imagines what it must have been like to have been a young slave in search of both this tree and her emancipation. Many slavery narra
Spotify •

(Interviewee) Why Writing with Heather Harlen

Listen to this episode from Keep Your Candle Lit on Spotify. Why do you write? (Or why do YOU do the thing you love)? How can someone get into writing if they have an idea but think that they aren’t good at it? Suzie & Heather explore writing. Heather shares insight on following or diverging from your path and how other writers can get started.  About Heather: Heather is an educator, author, and advocate. You can connect with Heather on Facebook @HeatherHarlenAuthor or on Instagram & Twitter @Ha
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

Review: My Body, My Words: A Collection of Bodies, edited by Loren Kleinman and Amye Archer

My closet is full of clothes I worked hard to fit into; now those size 12 shorts and cute sundresses are annoying reminders of the inches around my waist and thighs caused by health issues over the winter. All I want to do is throw on yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a bulky cardigan and call it a day. If you’ve been in this place, too, where you feel your body has betrayed you, My Body, My Words is for you. My Body, My Words: A Collection of Bodies (Big Table Publishing Company, February 2018) is an
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

REVIEW: Some Bright Morning, I’ll Fly Away by Alice Anderson

Normally, if the author of a confessional memoir were to name-drop her luxury SUV in the third sentence of the first paragraph, I’d roll my eyes. But in Some Bright Morning, I’ll Fly Away (St. Martin’s Press; Aug. 2017), Alice Anderson sandwiches the Land Rover between the mention of the FEMA trailer she’s living in and a row of guns presented to her by her best friend’s father. These juxtapositions are exactly what makes her memoir of surviving post-Katrina Mississippi and an abusive husband so
At The Inkwell •

Review: The Back of Beyond

Let me be clear: I love my husband and our life together, and every once in awhile, I daydream about being single. When I conducted a very unscientific Google poll, I found out I am not alone. Of the 76 people who answered my call for their input, 66% admitted to sharing my intermittent daydream. In To the Back of Beyond, translated from German by Michael Hoffman (2017, Other Press), award-winning author Peter Stamm wonders what happens if we actually turn our backs on our lives. How do we move
Hippocampus Magazine - Creative Nonfiction Published Monthly •

REVIEW: The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey Into Manhood

(Simon & Schuster, July 2016) isn’t about Powell’s controversial actions during his stint on The Real World: New York. His life is richer, bigger than those three months. This memoir of an African-American man finding his way is a catalog of stepping stones from childhood to middle age, each footfall landing on the beauty, the sadness, the joy, the mistakes, the second chances. It is a reminder that although life is sometimes one step forward, two steps back, we owe it to ourselves to rise in ho
Scary Mommy •

An Open Letter To Friends With Children

You envy me at times. I don’t have to drag a lawn chair and a travel mug of chardonnay to 10 a.m. soccer games. I can sleep in on the weekends. I envy you at times, like when you come home from the movies and even though your kids and I had a great time playing Freeze Dance and building forts, nothing can ever match the shouts of joy when they see you. You always have a date for the zoo or the latest Pixar release. Now that you have kids and I don’t want kids, our paths are different. Some frie
Chicklit Club Connect •

Because You Are Worth It

Heather Harlen talks about the value of women’s stories. I’ve always envied women who have sisters. My siblings are two younger brothers, who were really fun to grow up with, and it’s still not the same. One way I’ve created sisterhood is through friendship. I’ve surrounded myself with strong, smart girlfriends. My go-to gals include teachers, writers, a transformational coach, managers, moms, and an engineer. They keep me inspired and on my game. The other way I’ve created sisterhood is throu
Pennsylvania Department of Education •

Adding Sensory Details To Any Type Of Writing - SAS

These lessons basically follow the classic writing workshop format of minilesson, independent writing and share time. This set of lessons are nice to use at the beginning of the school year so students can develop this skill as the year progresses as they work through different genres, tasks and audiences. Give students time to answer on own and then do a think/pair/share. Document definitions on chart paper, white board or doc cam - anywhere it can be saved and used again for both classes. 2)