Meet Heather Ormsby | Writer and Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heather Ormsby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born in Fort Collins and raised in Denver, and I’m a fourth generation Coloradoan. My mother, aunts and uncles and grandparents have told me stories all my life about living here.

Being from Colorado seeps into much of my writing and photography. I’ve traveled to many countries, but I love hiking through my home state and taking pictures. I have two mystery series, the Rowan O’Donnell Mysteries and PI Rye Gannon Mysteries, that I’m writing and both of them take place in Colorado. Also, much of my short fiction happens in the west.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always loved books, and I determined from a very young age that I was going to be a writer. After studying journalism at Creighton University, I came back to Denver and took a variety of jobs to keep me going while I worked on my writing. It wasn’t until self-publishing came along that I really began to have hope that my work could get out into the world. It hasn’t been easy finding the time, and the learning curve was steep, but I created my own publishing company, Moonlit Skies Press, and I put out my first short stories and novel.

Since then, I have been getting new books and short stories out on a regular basis and I am just loving the creative process. I was recently selected as a finalist for the LAURA Short Fiction Award, given by Women Writing the West for my short story Mountain Trout. It’s a fantastic honor to be recognized for my work.

My photography is a love I discovered while in college while studying photojournalism. The last five years I’ve been a part of Central Park Artists and participate in their shows and learn from other artists. I regularly post new work on my website HeatherOrmsby.com as well as on Fine Art America.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If we were keeping to the metro area, we would have to get some good food and drink at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, on the east edge of Central Park. We would also have to have brunch one morning at Snooze on 8th and Colorado Blvd.

On a Saturday, we would drive to Boulder for the farmer’s market and either eat at Lucille’s or the Dushanbe Teahouse. Another option would be hiking at Chautauqua Park and eating at the fabulous restaurant there at the main lodge.

We would visit Red Rocks, hike Mt. Falcon, and have margaritas in Morrison at the Morrison Inn, then dinner at The Fort.

We would drive south to visit the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

We would visit the Denver Art Museum, and we would spend the rest of the day at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and have lunch at The Hive.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to Lighthouse Writers Workshop here in Denver. They’ve helped keep my writing dreams alive when I’ve felt discouraged or thinking about giving up and just doing my day job. They also do a great job of reaching out into the community to inspire people from all walks of life in the Denver metro area.

Website: https://heatherormsby.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherormsby

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHeatherOrmsby

Image Credits
The image credit for my profile picture is KDaly Photography.