Latin School of Chicago

Heather McElhatton '88 Much to her parents' dismay, Heather McElhatton's writing career began around third grade in the pews of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. To pass the time during Sunday services, McElhatton would scribble wild tales of kidnapped princesses in the margins of the sanctuary Bibles. "Sometimes I wonder what happened to those Bibles, and if subsequent parishioners read my stories," McElhatton says. "Even back then I suppose the vain writer in me hoped someone would interrupt the sermon and shout, 'By Scott! There's a work of staggering genius in this Bible!'" Although her earliest efforts did not receive the public admiration she hoped for, McElhatton's debut novel Pretty Little Mistakes, which came out in 2008, was a bestseller and is in development for television. Her second novel, Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single, is being adapted for film. She has had several short stories published and over the summer finished Million Little Mistakes, a sequel to Pretty Little Mistakes. When she is not working on books, McElhatton is a writer and producer for Public Radio International. Her commentaries and stories have been heard nationally on "This American Life," "Marketplace," "Weekend America," "Sound Money" and "The Savvy Traveler." She also produced the radio literary series "Talking Volumes." McElhatton's writing has been hailed by critics for taking a darker, more intriguing approach to standard "chick lit:" "somewhere between Bridget Jones Diary, the Shopaholic series, and a good clean slap in the face," according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She explains that she is inspired by "the beauty of the broken world" and strives for honesty in her writing even when it is not attractive. "To me beauty is in the flaw, in the wrinkle, and you connect with other people when you illuminate those things that others might hide." "Latin taught me how to set high standards. I expect a lot from myself." 40 Latin Magazine Pretty Little Mistakes is a do-over novel with 150 possible scenarios and endings that McElhatton wrote in record time after the novel she had been working on for six years was rejected repeatedly by publishers. It quickly was picked up and almost immediately became a hit. The success has led to more projects, and these days McElhatton will lock herself away at her secluded cottage on Lake Superior for months at a time to write. She keeps to a structured and disciplined writing schedule – something she feels that she learned to do at Latin. "Latin taught me how to set high standards. I expect a lot from myself. Working hard and defying distraction is a skill I use to this day. The only way to write a novel is to keep at it, despite the odds, no matter what." At Latin she also got her first glimpse of her future as a writer. "We had to write to our favorite writer, and for me, that was Roald Dahl, who wrote such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. I wrote Mr. Dahl, and he actually wrote back. He told me I was definitely a writer, he could tell. I still have that letter framed above my desk. Now when rivals or editors accuse me of not knowing how to write, I refer them to Mr. Dahl's letter."

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