By The Book

Happy release day to Heidi Gray McGill! Her historical romance, Keeper of My Heart is available today! Heidi is joining BTB today to tell you more about herself and her writing journey, as well as info on her novel and upcoming projects. Thanks Heidi!

Many authors say they’ve always been writers—making up stories as children. When did you first become a writer?

That’s a great place to start, because I wasn’t one of those children who walked around with notebooks full of stories or even read everything I could get my hands on. For me, writing came out of necessity. It wasn’t until 2020 that the door really opened. What surprised me was how quickly it felt like home once I stepped through it. 

When our world changed in 2020, I closed the English as a Second Language program I founded, and I retired. That left me without a platform to share my faith. My heart has always been to share the gospel, but through actions rather than verbally.

Writing became a way to process faith, history, and human struggle (especially the quiet, unseen kind). Looking back now, I can see that storytelling had been forming in me long before I ever put words on a page.

Who in your life encouraged you to become an author?

Encouragement came in layers rather than one defining voice. My family supported the leap, even when the path wasn’t clear. Friends in the Christian writing community helped me believe this wasn’t just a hobby but a calling worth stewarding.

But I’d also say the characters themselves played a role. Once characters showed up in my mind, they didn’t leave me much choice.

Why did you choose this genre?

Christian historical fiction allows me to explore faith where it’s lived out under pressure. On the frontier, belief wasn’t abstract. It shaped survival, community, and moral choices in real time. In contemporary works, I have to be conscious of what some consider offensive or politically correct. That puts a damper on my creativity and ability to share Jesus as I see him. He is bold, so why shouldn’t I be?

In my latest historical, Keeper of My Heart, Cecelia and Jimmy live in a world where physical strength, medical knowledge, and spiritual conviction collide. I’m drawn to those intersections where belief has to be practiced, not just professed.

What types of research do you pursue?

I do a mix of historical, medical, and environmental research. For Keeper of My Heart, that included frontier medicine, herbal remedies, smallpox outbreaks, and daily life in post–Civil War Missouri. But I’ve also had fun finding period-appropriate recipes, learning what they would have worn for different functions, and the reality of modes of travel and the time to get places without today’s conveniences of automobiles and roads.

But I’m equally attentive to emotional truth. I want the work to feel right. My words need to reflect how people actually moved, labored, spoke, and trusted God when answers weren’t immediate. Research gives the story bones; empathy gives it breath.

What does a typical writing day look like? Are you structured or informal?

I’m structured, but not rigid. I value consistency more than word counts. Some days are deeply productive. Others are spent revising, researching, or simply listening to where the story wants to go next. Unfortunately, being an author isn’t all about writing the story. Being an author is like running a small business. And, like any entrepreneur, there is advertising, finances, social media, and connections outside the story with readers through my newsletter and my devotional-style blog to attend to daily.

The act of writing isn’t just typing. It’s thinking, praying, and sometimes stepping away long enough to see clearly again. That balance was especially important while writing Cecelia and Jimmy’s story. Taking characters through a faith journey or growth is not something I take lightly. I work diligently to make my readers feel what the character is experiencing and empathize with them. If I do this well, then the reader can see how God is working in their life similarly.

Can you tell us a little about what inspired your latest novel?

Keeper of My Heart grew out of a desire to explore strength that isn’t showy. Cecelia is capable, grounded, and fiercely independent, but she’s also guarding places she doesn’t yet know how to open. Jimmy is bookish and trained, yet untested in the physical world Cecelia navigates with ease.

Their story asks what happens when knowledge meets experience, and when pride—of different kinds—has to give way to trust. At its core, this novel is about surrender: to God’s timing, to unexpected callings, and to a love that doesn’t arrive the way either character planned.

What do you want your readers to take away after finishing one of your novels?

I hope readers walk away encouraged. I want them to see that God works just as powerfully in the ordinary as in the dramatic. That obedience doesn’t always look bold—but it is always costly. And that being strong doesn’t mean being self-sufficient.

If a reader closes the book feeling seen, steadied, or gently challenged to trust God more fully, then the story has done its work.

What’s next for you? Do you have any works in progress you can share?

The world of Shumard Oak Bend, the fictional town where my stories take place, will hopefully always be very much alive. While Keeper of My Heart focuses on Cecelia and Jimmy, their story fits into a larger tapestry of faith, family, and frontier life that continues to unfold in my Discerning God’s Best series.

However, there is only one more book coming. There is one more sibling in the Shankel family who needs to tell her story.

You can read each book in the Discerning God’s Best series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWD3ZZ6 as a standalone, but you will benefit from the growth of the characters if you read from the beginning starting with my free Christmas prequel, Before We Belong (https://heidigraymcgill.com/free_Christmas_book) which is available for free in both eBook and audiobook formats when you sign up for my newsletter. Once you are part of my reader family, I’ll have another free book to give where we continue to explore what it means to follow God when the path forward isn’t obvious.

Thank you so much for having me today, Beckie. It’s been a joy to share a little about myself and my new release, Keeper of My Heart. (AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4J7B471 ). I’m truly grateful for the chance to talk about stories that celebrate faith, perseverance, and God’s quiet work in our lives.

Heidi Gray McGill is the award-winning author of the Discerning God’s Best series, a five-time NEST Award recipient, and Selah Award–recognized author for her audiobook, Desire of My Heart. Readers consistently praise her stories for their emotional depth, strong faith thread, and characters who feel real, flawed, and deeply human. Readers often describe her s as comforting, hope-filled, and hard to forget—stories that stay with readers long after the final page and point gently but clearly back to God’s faithfulness.

If you’d like to get to know Heidi better, her newsletter is a great place to stay on top of what is happening in her writing world and get notified when books are on sale. You can learn more about her heart in her devotional-style blog posts (https://heidigraymcgill.com/blog/).

It is always an encouragement to Heidi when readers follow her on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/author/heidigraymcgill), BookBub (https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heidi-gray-mcgill?follow=true), Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20851872.Heidi_Gray_McGill), or subscribe to her YouTube Channel where you can listen to free audiobooks (https://www.youtube.com/@authorheidigraymcgill/?sub_confirmation=1).

Tags: Heidi Gray McGill, historical romance fiction