Elizabeth Heider
@elizabethheider.bsky.social
Author of MAY THE WOLF DIE (Penguin) | Thriller in Naples 🇮🇹 | a NYT, WaPo & PW Best Book of 2024. CHILDREN OF THE SAVAGE CITY launches 02-17-2026
www.elizabethheider.com
#maythewolfdie
Exploring crime, culture, and complex characters. 🌍
www.elizabethheider.com
#maythewolfdie
Exploring crime, culture, and complex characters. 🌍
Pinned
Naples. A storm rolls in.
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
I think we've been measuring the wrong things. elizabethheider.com/blog/f/weve-...
We've Been Measuring the Wrong Things
Last year I attended my high school reunion. It was both wonderful and devastating. My mind has often returned to it - and I've thought about our collective griefs, ambitions, and how we decide what a...
elizabethheider.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:36 AM
I think we've been measuring the wrong things. elizabethheider.com/blog/f/weve-...
A few months ago, while grappling with grief, I re-read Viktor Frankl’s iconic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, based on his experiences in Auschwitz.
Frankl tells us that it’s not we who ask life for meaning - life demands that we answer the question.
Frankl tells us that it’s not we who ask life for meaning - life demands that we answer the question.
October 22, 2025 at 6:36 AM
A few months ago, while grappling with grief, I re-read Viktor Frankl’s iconic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, based on his experiences in Auschwitz.
Frankl tells us that it’s not we who ask life for meaning - life demands that we answer the question.
Frankl tells us that it’s not we who ask life for meaning - life demands that we answer the question.
On social media platforms, we see only the highlights. It's a ruthless game: the dark complexity of our truths will always compare unfavorably to the gentle glow of others’ achievements
October 22, 2025 at 6:36 AM
On social media platforms, we see only the highlights. It's a ruthless game: the dark complexity of our truths will always compare unfavorably to the gentle glow of others’ achievements
But I don’t see suffering as the consequence of art. Instead, pain is often the pre-existing condition - and creative expression one of the few available paths to relieve psychological anguish. It is a perfectly sane response to pain. elizabethheider.com/blog/f/art-a...
The Mad Artist Was Never Mad
A few weeks ago, one of my readers recommended that I watch Elizabeth Gilbert's February 2009 TED talk about writing titled, Your Elusive Creative Genius.
elizabethheider.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
But I don’t see suffering as the consequence of art. Instead, pain is often the pre-existing condition - and creative expression one of the few available paths to relieve psychological anguish. It is a perfectly sane response to pain. elizabethheider.com/blog/f/art-a...
Elizabeth Gilbert discusses this linkage In her 2009 Ted talk: "We've completely internalized and accepted collectively this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked and that artistry, in the end, will always ultimately lead to anguish."
October 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Elizabeth Gilbert discusses this linkage In her 2009 Ted talk: "We've completely internalized and accepted collectively this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked and that artistry, in the end, will always ultimately lead to anguish."
Years ago, I was deeply affected by Kay Redfield Jamison's 1993 publication, "Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament" wherein she tracks generational depression and bipolar disorder and, in the same family trees, manifestations of stunning artistry.
October 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Years ago, I was deeply affected by Kay Redfield Jamison's 1993 publication, "Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament" wherein she tracks generational depression and bipolar disorder and, in the same family trees, manifestations of stunning artistry.
The correlation between creative expression and mental health instability is a well-acknowledged phenomenon, a romantic myth, a cultural trope, and a subject of scientific study. 🧵
October 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The correlation between creative expression and mental health instability is a well-acknowledged phenomenon, a romantic myth, a cultural trope, and a subject of scientific study. 🧵
#AI is probably a #Horcrux. I should have learned from the wisdom of #JKRowling - who was way ahead of her time in predicting this danger with #chatGPT: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/the-a...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/the-a...
How We Know AI is a Horcrux
"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."
elizabethheider.com
September 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
#AI is probably a #Horcrux. I should have learned from the wisdom of #JKRowling - who was way ahead of her time in predicting this danger with #chatGPT: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/the-a...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/the-a...
Ohh!! Hooray! MAY THE WOLF DIE is on SALE on Kindle right now! #sale #booksforsale #crimefiction #mystery #amwritingfiction #nikkiserafinoseries www.amazon.com/May-Wolf-Die...
May the Wolf Die: A Novel
May the Wolf Die: A Novel - Kindle edition by Heider, Elizabeth. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading May the Wolf Die: A Novel.
www.amazon.com
July 28, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Ohh!! Hooray! MAY THE WOLF DIE is on SALE on Kindle right now! #sale #booksforsale #crimefiction #mystery #amwritingfiction #nikkiserafinoseries www.amazon.com/May-Wolf-Die...
This is cowardly and morally reprehensible. I refuse to ever support CBS again if this happens.
Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
CBS Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com
July 18, 2025 at 12:57 AM
This is cowardly and morally reprehensible. I refuse to ever support CBS again if this happens.
Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
Naples. A storm rolls in.
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
July 16, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Naples. A storm rolls in.
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
The faithful gather for Mass.
And in the shadows - a woman is killed.
Nikki Serafino is back.
Children of the Savage City | Penguin 🐧
February 17, 2026
Here’s your first look at the cover.
#CoverReveal #CrimeFiction #NikkiSerafino #ChildrenOfTheSavageCity #maythewolfdie
Reposted by Elizabeth Heider
NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care.
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days: ‘Nobody is safe’
Exclusive: For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation
www.theguardian.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care.
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
Absolutely slamming writing day today! And I didn’t look at the news or social media (she said with pride, hoping that the world had not, meanwhile, slid into a black hole)
July 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Absolutely slamming writing day today! And I didn’t look at the news or social media (she said with pride, hoping that the world had not, meanwhile, slid into a black hole)
Companies generating AI sludge think there is no difference between "writing" and "content". But humans don't hunger for soulless perfection - for sentences buffed into homogenous meaninglessness. #writing #ChatGPT #amwriting #writingcommunity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/never...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/never...
Never repent for the spark
Sometimes I wish I could have had a different life.
elizabethheider.com
July 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Companies generating AI sludge think there is no difference between "writing" and "content". But humans don't hunger for soulless perfection - for sentences buffed into homogenous meaninglessness. #writing #ChatGPT #amwriting #writingcommunity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/never...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/never...
✨ #Bookstagrammers, #reviewers, #journalists -
If you’d like to be on the press list for my next #crimefiction novel - Children of the Savage City, out Feb 2026 with @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social I’d love to hear from you.
Just DM me your name, outlet/account, and email - or drop a comment below. 🖤
If you’d like to be on the press list for my next #crimefiction novel - Children of the Savage City, out Feb 2026 with @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social I’d love to hear from you.
Just DM me your name, outlet/account, and email - or drop a comment below. 🖤
June 24, 2025 at 7:54 PM
✨ #Bookstagrammers, #reviewers, #journalists -
If you’d like to be on the press list for my next #crimefiction novel - Children of the Savage City, out Feb 2026 with @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social I’d love to hear from you.
Just DM me your name, outlet/account, and email - or drop a comment below. 🖤
If you’d like to be on the press list for my next #crimefiction novel - Children of the Savage City, out Feb 2026 with @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social I’d love to hear from you.
Just DM me your name, outlet/account, and email - or drop a comment below. 🖤
I'm reading "The Fifth Gospel" by #IanCaldwell - and I find the prose and character development to be excellent; in some places just breathtaking. I was listening to the audiobook on a bike-ride and I actually gasped at a particular description. A real pleasure.
June 19, 2025 at 11:44 PM
I'm reading "The Fifth Gospel" by #IanCaldwell - and I find the prose and character development to be excellent; in some places just breathtaking. I was listening to the audiobook on a bike-ride and I actually gasped at a particular description. A real pleasure.
Book Two is locked. Final edits submitted. Children of the Savage City is on its way - and I can't wait to show you what’s coming next for Nikki Serafino and Valerio Alfieri.
#maythewolfdie #penguinbooks #amwriting #amwritingcrimefiction #childrenofthesavagecity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/child...
#maythewolfdie #penguinbooks #amwriting #amwritingcrimefiction #childrenofthesavagecity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/child...
Children of the Savage City
Last Friday, I finished the final edits on Children of the Savage City, the second book in the Nikki Serafino series.
Of course, "final" is a strong word in the editorial process. My editor at Penguin...
elizabethheider.com
June 9, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Book Two is locked. Final edits submitted. Children of the Savage City is on its way - and I can't wait to show you what’s coming next for Nikki Serafino and Valerio Alfieri.
#maythewolfdie #penguinbooks #amwriting #amwritingcrimefiction #childrenofthesavagecity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/child...
#maythewolfdie #penguinbooks #amwriting #amwritingcrimefiction #childrenofthesavagecity
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/child...
A dental surgery, a book deadline, and too many hours recovering sent me spiraling into questions of quantum mechanics and consciousness.
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/on-qu...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/on-qu...
On Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness
Disclaimer: This is a more speculative post than usual - something I’ve been thinking about for years. It’s part physics, part philosophy, part personal musing. If you’ve ever wondered whether the u...
elizabethheider.com
June 5, 2025 at 1:15 AM
A dental surgery, a book deadline, and too many hours recovering sent me spiraling into questions of quantum mechanics and consciousness.
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/on-qu...
elizabethheider.com/blog/f/on-qu...
Buscaglia (v., informal)
/boo-SKAL-yuh/
1. To confidently publish AI-generated content—especially reading lists or reviews—without verifying whether the books, authors, or basic facts are real.
“Wait, is this novel even real?” “Nope. They totally buscaglia’d the whole list.”
/boo-SKAL-yuh/
1. To confidently publish AI-generated content—especially reading lists or reviews—without verifying whether the books, authors, or basic facts are real.
“Wait, is this novel even real?” “Nope. They totally buscaglia’d the whole list.”
May 20, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Buscaglia (v., informal)
/boo-SKAL-yuh/
1. To confidently publish AI-generated content—especially reading lists or reviews—without verifying whether the books, authors, or basic facts are real.
“Wait, is this novel even real?” “Nope. They totally buscaglia’d the whole list.”
/boo-SKAL-yuh/
1. To confidently publish AI-generated content—especially reading lists or reviews—without verifying whether the books, authors, or basic facts are real.
“Wait, is this novel even real?” “Nope. They totally buscaglia’d the whole list.”
This is AMAZING. Tell the Chicago Sun Times to do me next! What non-book of mine should people read this summer?
Yep- the bogus summer reading list from the Chicago Sun Times is real. Here I am with it from a few minutes ago.
(Support your local library!!)
(Support your local library!!)
May 20, 2025 at 10:27 PM
This is AMAZING. Tell the Chicago Sun Times to do me next! What non-book of mine should people read this summer?
I like the new guy.
Pope Leo XIV used his first Sunday address to the faithful to call for peace. “Never again war,” he said to a roar from the crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Leo XIV Calls for End to War in First Sunday Blessing as Pontiff
www.nytimes.com
May 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I like the new guy.
Please let him just be a narcissist, and not a Russian agent.
April 27, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Please let him just be a narcissist, and not a Russian agent.
Nope. All chickens present and accounted for.
April 19, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Nope. All chickens present and accounted for.