Heidi's Story
I attended Sugarloaf both as a camper (1986 or 7?) and as a counselor in both 1990 and 1991. The summer of 1990 was especially life changing for me as my life was both tumultuous—my parents split up that spring, while I was playing Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451, another hugely influential experience, months before camp). Because my mother was so distraught, I felt responsible for my two younger sisters and was not at all mentally prepared to leave home for college. So basically I had that summer. As we coined it later, as we scribbled drawings on napkins late night’s at Denny’s “The Summer of the Leaves,” because the wind was picking us up and taking us where we want to go, or, more distressingly, where we didn’t. (A quote from that Kiefer Sutherland movie 1969. I know.) Essentially, just when I thought life was all fighting and crying and giving-up-hope, I wandered a dusty old trail and it changed my life for the better.
Sugarloaf was a place that accepted everyone. People that stood out as odd in high school thrived here on this mountain. I met kids from all over the county—really amazing kids—who could play instruments, sing, make up songs, add hilarity to skits, and mostly who were just really, really nice. I loved it. The whole week. I realized this is not only how I wanted to live, but what I wanted to be surrounded by. After, for a year or two, I hung out with this group a lot. We did all the things kids of 18 and 19 do. They were my people. After that last summer our life gained serious forward momentum and while we never returned to camp—we rarely visit El Dorado County, much to my mother’s chagrin—clearly the Sugarloaf experience magic stuck with me.
Working in the Arts
Heidi at an author book signing.
We moved to Santa Cruz in 1992 and after graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Literature and Creative Writing, I was working at a summer camp in Capitola (Santa Cruz area). My friend and I decided to teach drama classes and she wrote a script. It was an adaption of Star Wars I think, though I'd deny it if asked by George Lucas. ;) Anyway, it was such fun and such a big hit with the camp, that they asked us to continue writing and directing children's theatre for the city. My husband, Daryn, (Sugarloaf alum 1990), was in the process of applying to medical school (he's now an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford. Slacker) and needed a temporary gig too, so Lenka, Daryn and I started teaching classes. Either Lenka or I wrote the scripts and directed; Daryn did lights and sound and sometimes provided musical accompaniment on guitar. Eventually Lenka left town, and Daryn and I took over full time. Heidi & Daryn's Children's Theatre was born! Daryn ended up not getting accepted to med school the first time around, and so we ended up staying on in Santa Cruz area and running this camp for 3 years. What a magical, completely unplanned experience for us both. Recently I returned from a trip to Nashville to visit friends where I toured The Theatre Bug, now run by one of MY alum, which was inspired by me, who was inspired by Sugarloaf. Serendipitous and beautiful when things work out that way.
Fast forward a few years, and Daryn landed at a NYC med school, during which I worked in many eclectic fields: costume shop employee, where I met the zaniest, greatest folks, a nursing home where I put together a memoir of the elderly folks best memories of love, I taught local drama classes. Eventually, I ended up applying for my MFA in Creative Writing from The New School, and decided to focus full-time on my writing.
I had written a half-baked middle grade (think Diary of a Wimpy Kid-ish) about a theatre camp whilst in Santa Cruz, so I applied with a sample of that and low and behold got in! To be honest it was the ad that lured me, "Experience the writer's life in Greenwich Village." Twist my arm. Again, an incredible experience that I hadn't planned but was in the right place at the right time.
Two years later, I had a completed manuscript for my thesis called "Orange Popsicle Daze" about a girl whose parents force her to move from California to New York. Right. It had the bones of a good novel, but none of the kazam it needed to sell. So fast forward another few years and we're back in Northern California, I'm pregnant with our first child, Ethan (11) and the 2004 tsunami happens. Daryn gathers a team, volunteers and goes to Indonesia to spend two weeks at an orphanage for displaced survivors. He comes back completely changed and now focuses his efforts full time on cross-cultural psychiatry. He also said, "You should write about this."
So I did.
That was my novel SEA, which landed me both one of the best literary agents in the biz and a publishing deal. It debuted in 2010 to numerous accolades and to date, other than my two wonderful kids, is my greatest accomplishment.
Fast forward to now, and I'm the mother to both Ethan and the delightful Amelia (almost 6) and teach drama and creative classes at their school. What a joy it is to have my own kids on the stage saying my words. Writing can be such a solitary venture, and since I’m equal parts introvert and extrovert, I’m at my best working a mix of both directing/teaching and writing novels/plays.
Currently I'm working on a collection of updated, humorous fairytale adaptations.
I'm also writing a 9-book interactive fantasy series with Palo Alto/SF's Coliloquy. The first three books are out now and widely available. I recently finished a darkish contemporary inspired by true events that took place in our town, and completed a chapter book with Daryn. I wrote it and he did the hilarious illustrations. It’s loosely based on our kids; and I just sent that into my agent.
In summary, artists are their art. I take everything that's happened to me, every person I've met, every country I've traveled to, every feeling I’ve ever had and it all stays with me—alive in my pages, in every word, every character, in every moment. I work on projects that I think are both entertaining and hold some sort of social value.
So how did Sugarloaf influence me?
In every way a person can be influenced.
Even though we don’t live in a commune like I wanted when I was eighteen, we live in that spirit. We live in the biggest tech center of the world, Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, yet our house is full of music instruments, funny people, and trunks of costumes.
Our door is always open, and though our house is small, we have friends camping out in Ethan’s bunk beds most weekends.
It’s not really the art I took away from Sugarloaf, but the spirit. The Love. My fantasy series is about magic, but this—this is the true magic of life.
When asked for advice from my students, or from aspiring authors, I say this: Say yes to life. As often as possible. Let yourself feel things. Turn off your AC and roll down your windows instead. Feel the air on your face. Breath. Say yes. When you do, you bump into the right opportunities, let your intuition be your guide. If it feels right, embrace it, if it doesn’t, push it aside and step away. They’ll always be new ones. Do this everyday, not just for the week up at camp. Bring camp into your real life.
Surround yourself with people who love and support you. This way you remain continually inspired, which allows you to create, which allows you to thrive. This is Sugarloaf. These are the special corners of this world. These are the moments that stick with you during harder times, keep you afloat.
Friends, I remember you. Hope to bring our kids up to experience the magic soon, too.
With love and gratitude,