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Heather O'Brien

Goodreads Author

Born

in Sacramento, The United States

Website

http://www.booksbyheather.com/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/RealHeatherOB

Genre

Fiction, Suspense, Mystery

Influences

Jacqueline Susann, Madeleine L'Engle, Norton Juster, Rebecca Wells, Da ...more

Member Since

May 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/sagawriter

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Heather O’Brien is a novelist and no stranger to the creative arts. The great-great-granddaughter of world-renowned cellist Bruno Steindel of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she can trace back her creative roots to five generations of notable musicians, artists, and toy makers. Her family tree contains the branches of many disciplines of the finer arts.

A seeker of what motivates the heart, she has a certain knack for drawing complex characters who explore the sometimes painful dynamics of life and love, choice and consequence, regret and reconciliation. Though many of her stories take place in the entertainment industry, she infuses intense humanity into an industry perceived as lacking the very things that connect us. She describes her wri Heather O’Brien is a novelist and no stranger to the creative arts. The great-great-granddaughter of world-renowned cellist Bruno Steindel of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she can trace back her creative roots to five generations of notable musicians, artists, and toy makers. Her family tree contains the branches of many disciplines of the finer arts.

A seeker of what motivates the heart, she has a certain knack for drawing complex characters who explore the sometimes painful dynamics of life and love, choice and consequence, regret and reconciliation. Though many of her stories take place in the entertainment industry, she infuses intense humanity into an industry perceived as lacking the very things that connect us. She describes her writing style primarily as that of a “reformed pantser,” explaining that the intricacies of the saga forced her to become a hybrid, and then eventually a plotter, for the remainder of its telling.

Like all human drama, the overarching plotline for the Music is Murder saga is multiplex and surpasses the confines of a single novel. Over time, the story grew from a sequel (A Fate Worse Than Fame) to a trilogy (Ballad of Someday), and eventually into to a 7-book series. The overall foundation remains the story that found her at age eleven.

Over her career, she has dabbled in other areas of entertainment, including music and film. Most notably, she worked as a documentary film producer with an indie director from the Bay Area from 2002-2004. Her contributions included the investigation of a gruesome, multiple homicide that took place in the mid-’80s, in the small town she had lived in as a child.

Heather is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of Professional Women and the Alliance of Independent Authors. When hanging out with friends, she loves to talk story, writing, music, and movies. She is a wife, a mother/step-mother of six, and a grandmother of nine. Some of her hobbies include music, amateur video editing, travel, and research. She spends most her spare time with family.

For more information, visit: www.booksbyheather.com. ...more

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Heather O'Brien’s books

Average rating: 4.32 · 38 ratings · 26 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Lockhardt Sound (Music Is Murder, #1) 4.15 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2001 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Fate Worse Than Fame (Music Is Murder, #2) 4.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ballad of Someday (Music Is Murder, #3) 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hit Makers (Music Is Murder, #4) 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

11 posts
Heather O'Brien's Blog

The Three Rs: A Fresh Take on an Old Term

Nope. Not what you might think. I’m not here today to discuss the familiar “Three Rs” of education: reading, writing, and arithmetic. In fact, just the idea of including the concept of math into one of my articles is giving me hives. No, today’s blog post dives into the very heart of an author’s pool of success: the post-sales life […]

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Published on September 30, 2017 15:11

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Series by Heather O'Brien

The Music is Murder Saga (4 books)
by

Heather O'Brien (Goodreads Author)

4.32 avg rating — 38 ratings

Heather is Currently Reading

Heather O'Brien is currently reading

Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me: A Search for Soul in the Power Pits of Rock and Roll

by Howard Bloom (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, must-read, owned-books, music, biography, music-business

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Nov 29, 2023 10:41AM

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Heather’s Recent Updates

Heather O'Brien rated a book did not like it Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb by Matthew Hild	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It's amazing how a publisher would release a slanderous and largely fiction account of someone's life without contacting any family and very few (if any) of the people written about. I'm old enough to remember authors having some integrity when writin ...more
Nov 18, 2024 03:07PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Arrow Through the Heart by Matthew Hild. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Arrow Through the Heart by Matthew Hild <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Heather O'Brien is currently reading Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me: A Search for Soul in the Power Pits of Rock and Roll by Howard Bloom (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 29, 2023 10:41AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me by Howard Bloom. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me by Howard Bloom <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Heather O'Brien rated a book it was amazing The 24/7 of A Russian Named Ruskov (The Luke In Time Mysteries Book 3) by Jody J. Sperling (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
So much fun! This is the third book in the Luke in Time Mysteries. And what a ride. Though a stand-alone book, "technically," I not only highly encourage THIS particular installment, but I personally recommend starting with book 1, The 9 Lives of Mar ...more
Nov 28, 2023 09:45AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The 24/7 of A Russian Named Ruskov by Jody J. Sperling. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The 24/7 of A Russian Named Ruskov by Jody J. Sperling <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Heather O'Brien liked Erin's review of Hit Makers (Music Is Murder, #4): "Wow!!! this one starts to tie up some loose ends, but also intrigues me for what more is coming, because there just HAS to be more to this story!!! I cannot wait for the next book, this series keeps getting better and better"
Nov 12, 2023 08:21AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hit Makers by Heather O'Brien. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hit Makers by Heather O'Brien <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Heather O'Brien liked Erin's review of A Fate Worse Than Fame (Music Is Murder, #2): "holy smokes!!! things happen so fast and so much in this book it is a lot to take in, the story keeps building and getting better and better! book number 3 here i come!"
Sep 23, 2023 08:10AM · see review
Heather O'Brien liked Erin's review of Lockhardt Sound (Music Is Murder, #1): "this book is amazing. gut-wrenching and and breathtaking with the scenes. i cannot wait to read book 2 to find out what is going on!"
Sep 20, 2023 09:25AM · see review

More of Heather's books…

Quotes by Heather O'Brien (?)

“The story is the story is the story.”
― Heather O'Brien

tags: on-writing-fiction, writer-s-life

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“There are only two things you’ll ever need to know about me, Farin—and you should know them well. I’m very smart, and I’m very rich.”
― Heather O'Brien, The Ties That Bind

tags: celebrity-culture, family-drama, fiction, fiction-novel, fictional-characters, series-debut, suspense, suspense-and-drama

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“You never loved me, Farin. You never even said you liked me very much.”
― Heather O'Brien, Embers from Ash and Ruin

tags: family-drama, love-triangle, suspense-novel

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Heather’s Quotes

“The story is the story is the story.”
― Heather O'Brien

tags: on-writing-fiction, writer-s-life

0 likes

“There are only two things you’ll ever need to know about me, Farin—and you should know them well. I’m very smart, and I’m very rich.”
― Heather O'Brien, The Ties That Bind

tags: celebrity-culture, family-drama, fiction, fiction-novel, fictional-characters, series-debut, suspense, suspense-and-drama

0 likes

“You never loved me, Farin. You never even said you liked me very much.”
― Heather O'Brien, Embers from Ash and Ruin

tags: family-drama, love-triangle, suspense-novel

0 likes

“Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire.”
― Bernard Williams

26 likes

Heather O'Brien’s Followers (16)

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The Three Rs: A Fresh Take on an Old Term

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