Gladys the Vampire (Paperback or Softback)

Turned at sixty-five years old, Gladys is far from your typical vampire. With bad knees, thinning hair, and a thankless job at a nursing home, she's hardly the picture of immortal glamor. Fortunately, she can always count on her equally unconventional support group friends to get her through the tough times.

Gladys and her friends have settled into quiet, somewhat comfortable existences by blending in and carefully guarding their supernatural secrets from the outside world. When Gladys stumbles upon the new night custodian in the act of feeding from one of her unsuspecting patients, she knows their carefully maintained anonymity is at risk.

Reluctantly, the group of veteran vampires takes nineteen-year-old Ethan under their collective wing, hoping to educate him in the delicate art of discreet vampirism before he unwittingly exposes them all. But Ethan's struggles to adjust to his newfound undead status upend Gladys and her friends' carefully constructed routines, leading all of them into a web of danger and intrigue.

With enemies lurking in the shadows and their very existence on the line, Gladys must navigate the complexities of vampire society while keeping her motley crew of misfits safe. Equal parts darkly humorous and heartwarming, Gladys the Vampire is a tale of unlikely friendships, unexpected challenges, and the enduring bonds that unite us, even in the darkest of circumstances.

Heather Hein is a Rocky Mountain Wordsmith who lives in Colorado with a menagerie of people, pets, and plants. Though her heart belongs in the west, she spent her high school years living in Iowa City where she (really!) worked at Hy-Vee Food Store before moving on to bigger and better things. She attended the Iowa Writers Workshop, edited her junior college paper, and taught professional writing as she completed her bachelor's degree. Heather is deeply committed to her local writing community and helps organize writing support and accountability groups, teaches classes, and coaches new writers to help get them started.