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Elizabeth Heider

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://elizabethheider.com/

Twitter

liz_heider

Genre

Crime, Mystery, Suspense

Influences

Robert Galbraith John le Carré, Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbø, Susanna ...more

Member Since

October 2023

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Elizabeth Heider is a PhD physicist whose most recent jobs include work for Microsoft’s AI4Science Research Program and the European Space Agency’s Human Spaceflight Program. Her short fiction has earned recognition from the Santa Fe Writer's Project Literary Awards and the New Century Writer Awards, as well as writing and research for military and government agencies where she worked as a scientist. She lived and worked in Naples Italy for several years, deploying as a civilian analyst aboard U.S. and European naval ships. She's based in The Hague.

Originally from Utah, Elizabeth is the second of six children, all unrepentant bibliophiles. She's written stories for as long as she can remember.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor's degree in physics Elizabeth Heider is a PhD physicist whose most recent jobs include work for Microsoft’s AI4Science Research Program and the European Space Agency’s Human Spaceflight Program. Her short fiction has earned recognition from the Santa Fe Writer's Project Literary Awards and the New Century Writer Awards, as well as writing and research for military and government agencies where she worked as a scientist. She lived and worked in Naples Italy for several years, deploying as a civilian analyst aboard U.S. and European naval ships. She's based in The Hague.

Originally from Utah, Elizabeth is the second of six children, all unrepentant bibliophiles. She's written stories for as long as she can remember.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Utah and a MS and PhD in physics from Tufts University

Elizabeth worked for eight years as a civilian researcher for the U.S. Navy, where she wrote and ran wargames, assessed at-sea exercises, and deployed for weeks and months at a time aboard naval warships. She lived and worked in Naples Italy, for three years, researching in fifteen African countries, and training troops in Senegal, Gabon, and Cameroon. At the invitation of the Admiral of the Royal Danish Navy and the Admiral of the Royal Netherlands Navy, she conducted assessments and mission support in those countries. In 2014, INTERPOL brought her to their headquarters in Lyon, France, to present a workshop and lecture at their fingerprint conference.

In 2016, Elizabeth moved to the Netherlands and worked as a scientist for the European Space Agency's Human Spaceflight program, supporting research on the International Space Station. In 2023, she became a Technical Program Manager for Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence Science Research Laboratory, AI4Science. She also works as a consultant for the commercial spaceflight industry.

Elizabeth's short fiction has earned recognition in the Santa Fe Writer's Project Literary Awards and the New Century Writer Awards. Her writing credits include a play produced at the University of Utah, numerous research papers (including an article co-written with ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet), a chemistry patent, and wargames written for the Navy and other US government agencies. Her original research and writing about Navy programs in Africa were used in US Department of State Congressional testimony. She authored a comic series developed by the European Space Agency, and for the better part of a decade, her science writings were regularly read by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Elizabeth currently lives in The Hague, where she bicycles across the dunes, makes wine from the grapes in her garden, and skates on frozen canals.
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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Elizabeth Heider From my first days as a physics student - through my professional career, I've had a bizarrely demanding study and work schedule. As a consequence, I …moreFrom my first days as a physics student - through my professional career, I've had a bizarrely demanding study and work schedule. As a consequence, I haven't ever been able to plan my writing time in a formal way. Instead, I've been a desperate writer, putting writing into the cracks and margins of my life. For me, writing has always been an escape from the things I'm supposed to be doing; a delicious, illicit diversion. The idea of "scheduling" writing sessions never occurred to me until I started learning about the habits of Stephen King, Ursula Le Guin, and Neil Gaiman. Each of these writers (and many more) has/had a very specific way of scheduling their writing day. Such writers report that this structure can be a doorway to freedom and creation. This was something I'd never considered. The advantage of scheduling your writing is that you train your brain to expect to be in a creative mode - so that it's prepared to do this at a certain time every day. I think I miss this opportunity.

On the other hand, I'm a very spontaneous person who (as a general rule) hates routine. I dislike it when any two days look the same. So, I doubt that my character would easily yield to routine scheduling. One advantage of the way that I write (taking any time I can steal) is that I haven't ever experienced writer's block in the way other people describe it. I think this is because writing is my escape and my therapy, so I'm always seeking it out and never trying to avoid it.

Of course, I'm not so foolish to think that my peculiar relationship with writing would persist if my life circumstances changed.

I dream about a time when writing is all that I do: when I can just travel, think, and write. But what happens when writing stops being the thing I'm using to procrastinate other things, and becomes the thing I procrastinate? I shudder to consider it! This is why I'm trying out different writing habits that are more routine and less "whenever you can grab a spare second." I'm considering what it might mean to have an actual writing schedule.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Elizabeth Heider May the Wolf Die began with Naples Italy where I lived from 2010 until 2013 as part of my job with the US Navy and I fell madly in love with the city.…moreMay the Wolf Die began with Naples Italy where I lived from 2010 until 2013 as part of my job with the US Navy and I fell madly in love with the city. There’s nothing tame about Naples. It’s chaotic and charismatic. And the beauty is excessive, almost too much to take in. The years I spent there were during an incredibly difficult period, yet the beauty was a sort of antidote, keeping me from tipping completely into anguish. It’s a meaningful place for me, and I always feel at home when I return.

Unfortunately, the transcendent beauty of the city has a bleak shadow: rampant poverty and the Commora mafia infesting all aspects of society. I wanted to explore this perilous landscape, and to also share the unique perspective from my years working with the US military.

The main protagonists are inspired by two remarkable people who work in the Italian security forces. I first caught sight of Nikki and Valerio in September 2021 when I went sailing with my friend Sara and the friend with whom she co-owns a boat. As I watched them interact, I exclaimed, “How are you not already characters in a novel?”

By the time we returned to the harbor, the book was already taking shape. When I described my project to Sara, she was incredibly supportive. Both she and her friend graciously gave their time and insight and expertise to ensure that the book was as accurate as I, a non-native, could make it. I’m tremendously grateful for this generosity.

As I began plotting this mystery, I realized I needed to really understand what would make someone plan and follow-through with murder. One dark evening in January, as I walked along the beach near my house and thought about this, I asked: what would it take for me to be willing to kill?

At once I saw all of the foundational pieces and the logic of the book. I have the voice notes from that night describing the entire plot.
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Elizabeth Heider’s books

Average rating: 3.79 · 1,941 ratings · 289 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	May the Wolf Die 3.78 avg rating — 1,727 ratings — published 2024 — 4 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
	Children of the Savage City 3.80 avg rating — 214 ratings — 3 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

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Elizabeth Heider's Blog

Advance copies of Children of the Savage City

Hello friends and readers,

My second novel, Children of the Savage City, will be published on February 17. It returns to Naples with Nikki Serafino, picking up after the events of May the Wolf Die. It can certainly be read as a standalone, but it's also very much a continuation. Deeper into the city, deeper into consequences, and heavier in subject matter.

Advance reading copies are currently availa Read more of this blog post »

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Published on January 08, 2026 15:22 • Tags: arc, crime-thriller, review

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Elizabeth is Currently Reading

Elizabeth Heider is currently reading

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

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Oct 08, 2026 05:50PM

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The Things They Carried

by Tim O'Brien

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Memory's Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia

by Gerda Saunders (Goodreads Author)

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Sep 03, 2024 12:44PM

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Elizabeth Heider is currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas	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
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Oct 05, 2026 06:01PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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Elizabeth Heider is now following Stephen King Author of The Shining (The Shining, #1)
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Quotes by Elizabeth Heider (?)

“Men were most comfortable when they didn’t think of you at all—when they measured their value according to some standard that involved only other men. But when you distinguished yourself, they were forced to include you in their estimation of themselves.”
― Elizabeth Heider, May the Wolf Die

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“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

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