C.M. Healy Inspires Young Minds Through Imagination, Adventure, and Heartwarming Tales
Photo: C.M. Healy, award-winning author and storyteller, captivates children with his vivid imagination and heartwarming tales for all ages.
Imagination Meets Storytelling
C.M. Healy discusses his journey as an author, his love for storytelling, the challenges of writing, and the imaginative worlds he creates to entertain and inspire young readers through his books.
C .M. Healy currently lives in Texas with his wife, daughters, and two cats. When he’s not busy visiting schools and writing, he enjoys building Lego sets, playing video games, reading comic books (The Flash is his favorite), and watching TV with his best buddy, his wife. He earned the distinguished award of Eagle Scout during high school and went on to obtain his masters in child development from Oklahoma State University. He has been working with and entertaining children of all ages ever since.
What inspired you to become an author and write children’s books?
It’s funny because I never saw myself as an author. I had always written silly poems since I was young, but it was when I came up with the idea to write Beyond the After series, I thought “I could do this.”
How do you manage to balance your time between teaching and writing?
HA! I didn’t. Unfortunately I’ve only had one new book come out since I started teaching. But I’ve also had a new daughter back in 2018, and a few other huge life events that have kept me from being as productive as I could have been. That being said, I have recently had another daughter and decided to quit teaching. Not only to be there to support my wife, but finally focus on what I feel God has called me to do, write.
Can you tell us about your favourite character amongst the ones you have created?
At the moment I think it has to be Tinker, from Princess Olivia. He is an old inventor who has a split personality due to his time in Drodd. He has conversations with himself. He’s kind of like an absent minded professor.
What is the most challenging part of writing a series, as seen in your Beyond the After series?
Keeping continuity. I have planned out the entire series from start to finish, but the way I have it designed is the first three books all happen along the same time line, similar to how some books tell different stories via different chapters. All of their stories intertwine with intriguing events and loves interests that transpose all three books.
The other thing I didn’t realize I needed to do was keep track of the character descriptions. Because I was writing in chunks over a long period of time, I would forget what color of eyes the princess had. So that’s when I finally created a separate document to keep track of all the different characters and different traits they had.
How do you ensure that your stories are relatable to children of different ages and backgrounds?
For my children’s books, I really don’t write to any particular age group or background. I’m constantly having ideas and they just naturally fall into an age range based on how long they are. I never hold back on vocabulary though, which is why all of my children’s books have a glossary in the back. I like to entertain as well as educate.
What role do you think imagination plays in a child’s development, as depicted in your book If Mom Became an Octopus?
I think imagination in general is important for everyone. But children have that unique innocence that hasn’t been jaded by growing up. I’m not sure exactly how or why, but I feel like I have an imagination like a child. Nothing is to weird or silly for me to put down and explore. I’ve always connected with children which is why I went to school to be a child psychologist.
How do you draw inspiration from your everyday life and experiences as a teacher and husband?
I keep a running list on my phone for all the ideas that I come up with. My eldest daughter has inspired an award winning poem I wrote about perspective. My wife wanted a story about a flying pig ergo, Penelope Rose was born.
And then on the other side of my brain, I have some darker stories I will eventually get out there. Some of those were definitely inspired by my students.
What are your current WIPs (works in progress)?
Right now I’m working on the third Beyond the After book; Princess Avery (Sleeping Beauty’s daughter). I hope to have that one out by next fall 2026. Again, it starts back with Lillian’s 18th birthday celebration, but like the other two, it follows Princess Avery back to her kingdom, tying it together with the events that take place in the first two books.
But as I do that, I’m finishing up a middle grade horror (think Goosebumps) called Have You Seen This Dog? which is about a group of middle school kids that investigate what is happening to all of the animals in their neighborhood, along with some shady characters that are very conspicuous.
And then of course the next Penelope Rose. This one will follow our beloved flying pig to the North Pole where she might run into someone who lives up there that we all know and love.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are looking to publish their first book and establish themselves as writers?
There’s basically 3 levels of writers, in my opinion. Those who want something for their friends and family. Those who want a side job for some extra money. And then those who actually want this to pay the bills. It’s still not easy to write something of substance, but it’s definitely easier to get in it print. The business side of making money is incredibly difficult.
So I speak to those who are wanting to do what I am trying to do, which is support my family. Be patient. I recently heard a very famous author give some great advice. Think of writing like an old fashioned water pump. It takes continual time and effort to get that water up out of the well, but you have to keep at it. Because if you stop or rest you lose all of the momentum you had bringing the water up. It’s the same with writing. Keep at it. You never know when you’re going to write the next best seller. And almost all the famous authors today have multiple rejection stories.
I obviously have a variety of books, mostly one offs, which do help for my school visits. However, I have found out that series are the best way to go. Even if they’re just thematically similar. I have a really good author friend who has a series about various fictional characters going on vacation but each one is its own story. That way your fans can look forward to either familiar characters or themes that they’ve come to know you for.
My books have been in print for ten years now and I have seen several less talented authors surpass me in their success. And I have spent thousands of dollars for classes & expert advice only to basically have nothing to show for it. But this is my dream and I will keep at it until I achieve that dream.
