Kristy
Woodson Harvey of Beaufort, N.C., has become a bestselling author, and her
novels are attracting a lot of national attention.
She
was one of the stars of the show at “The Best of Our State” conference earlier
this year in Pinehurst, one of North Carolina’s premier travel destinations.
Harvey’s
stories just tumbled forth effortlessly. Her 45-minute slot ended too quickly,
as the audience was intrigued by tales related to her Peachtree Bluff book
series – a trio as novels published by Gallery Books, a unit of
Simon & Schuster.
The
titles are “Slightly South of Simple,” “The Secret to Southern Charm” and “The
Southern Side of Paradise.”
She
revealed that although the book series is set in a “tiny, Southern coastal town
on the Georgia coast,” the stories are mostly based on her experiences in and
around Beaufort. (Hush y’all, dagnabbit, we’re not supposed to tell.)
Harvey
commented: “The ‘Our State’ event was incredible with the friendliest, kindest
attendees. I felt like I walked away with 800 new friends!”
“Our
State magazine is a publication that makes me leave every issue wondering
why in the world would anyone possibly want to live anywhere else besides North
Carolina? That weekend in Pinehurst was a similar experience,” she said. “I
walked away prouder than ever to be from such a great place with such
interesting and engaged people – and with quite a few more invitations for
speaking engagements!”
A
native of Salisbury, N.C., Kristy is the daughter of Paul and Beth Woodson.
Paul Woodson is the city’s former mayor, and Beth Woodson is an interior designer.
After
high school, Kristy was awarded a summer internship in the news room at the Salisbury
Post. She said one of her first assignments was to interview the proud
grower of a giant squash that looked like Elvis Presley.
She
earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008. Her dream was to become a
reporter and write for a magazine in New York City.
Kristy’s
life moved in a different direction, however, when she married Dr. Will Harvey
of Kinston, a dentist with deep roots in eastern North Carolina. New York was
now off the table.
Kristy
Harvey decided to go to graduate school at East Carolina University in
Greenville, get her master’s degree in English and take a job teaching at a
community college. She got the degree but not the job; it fell through. She
took a job working for an insurance company.
Meanwhile,
Harvey and her mother developed a blog called “Design Chic,” as an extension of
her mother’s interest in interior design. It was a hobby that grew into an
online business, founded on the beliefs that “home is one of the very
foundations of life” and “creating a space surrounded by things you love is one
of the best ways to express yourself and find meaning.”
After
giving birth to a son (also named Will), Harvey began mulling over the idea of becoming
a book author. She entered a writing contest in 2011 and came in second.
“The
organizer of the contest was author Orly Konig. She said that she couldn’t wait
to see my work in print one day,” Harvey said. “I remember sort of rolling my
eyes and thinking, ‘Yeah, right. If only it could be that easy….’”
She
entered another writing contest and won the top award for women’s fiction. The
judge was Katherine Pelz, who became Harvey’s first editor at Penguin Random
House, “which was something I never expected. I say you have to
be at the right place at the right time, which means you need to be a lot of
places!”
“It
takes a little bit of magic” to have one’s first book published as well as a “sprinkling
of fairy dust.” Harvey’s debut as an author was “Dear Carolina,” published in
2015.
New
York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand says Kristy
Woodson Harvey is “a major new voice in Southern fiction.” Harvey’s next book,
“Feels Like Falling,” will be released on April 28.
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