Heather McElhatton is a writer and producer for Public Radio International

Public Radio International

Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

. McElhatton produced the literary series Talking Volumes from 2001 to 2006. From 2005 to 2007 she hosted the live variety show Stage Sessions for Minnesota Public Radio

Minnesota Public Radio

Minnesota Public Radio , is the flagship National Public Radio member network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 42-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest serving over 8 million people...

 at the Fitzgerald Theater

Fitzgerald Theater

The Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest existing stage venue in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the home of American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion. It was one of many theaters built by the Shubert Theatre Corporation, and was initially named the Sam S. Shubert Theater...

 in St Paul, Minnesota. The show combined storytelling, spoken word, music and featured guests including Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...

, Ann Bancroft

Ann Bancroft

Ann Bancroft is an American author, teacher, and adventurer. She was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.-Biography:...

, Kevin Kling

Kevin Kling

Kevin Kling is an American commentator for National Public Radio and acclaimed storyteller.Kevin Kling grew up in Osseo, Minnesota and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a B. A. in Theatre...

, Bill Holm

Bill Holm (poet)

Bill Holm was an American poet, essayist, memoirist, and musician.Holm was born on a farm north of Minneota, Minnesota in 1943 and attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota where he graduated in 1965. Later, he attended the University of Kansas...

 and Robert Bly

Robert Bly

Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...

.

McElhatton has published several short stories, including Red Shoes in Alabama and the Whore Who Wore Them which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....

 in 2001.

McElhatton appeared on a televised episode of This American Life

This American Life

This American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays,...

in a segment called "Peezilla", where she recaptured her experience on a school bus when she was eight years old.

Her debut novel

Debut novel

A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...

, Pretty Little Mistakes

Pretty Little Mistakes

Pretty Little Mistakes is a book written by Heather McElhatton and published on May 1, 2007 by HarperCollins.The novel is written in Second-person narrative and allows the reader to direct where the story will go, similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. The book has more than 150...

, was a choose your own adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...

 style book for adults published by HarperCollins

HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

in May 2007. Her second book, "Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single", was released by HarperCollins in May 2009.

Million Little Mistakes, a sequel to Pretty Little Mistakes, in which the reader decides how to spend 22 million dollars in lottery winnings, was released in 2010.

External links

• Heather McElhatton official site