Author began writing career at age 16 | Jamestown News

Founded in 1981, High Point Town Meeting soon changed its name to High Point Literary Club. From the beginning, however, its mission has remained the same — to promote literacy and provide members the opportunity to meet the authors of some of their favorite books.

“I never envisioned the league lasting so long,” said charter member Bonnie Cashion during an interview in 2016. “When it started, I just hoped to meet some writers. One thing I noticed about them all is the research they do before even beginning to write. I appreciate that because I like to learn something when I read.”

Author Kristin Harmel is no exception. She admits that as much time goes into researching a book as it does to writing it. 

“I research historical events to the best of my ability, not just because I care about accuracy, but because the idea of turning real history into fiction fascinates me.” 

Harmel spoke to a packed crowd at the Fall 2025 High Point Literary League luncheon Sept. 17 at High Point Country Club. 

The author graduated from the University of Florida. She has written more than a dozen novels that have been published in more than 30 languages around the world. But she actually began her professional writing career at the age of 16. 

“I knew I wanted to write novels and planned to major in journalism in college,” Harmel said. “Meanwhile I read books on how to write for magazines. In a query letter, I guess I made myself sound older and got a job for a local sports magazine.

“I wrote for a couple of months before meeting the editor. The first thing he asked was, “How old are you?’ But he said I could write so he would keep me on.”

Harmel says she enjoyed writing sports profiles, what goes into the making of an athlete, for a minor league baseball team.

At the age of 23, she found herself maxed out of allotted writing hours for People Magazine during the next several months and decided to move to Paris.

“I minored in Spanish in college and had never spoken French,” Harmel said. “But I think that was the summer I became me.”

She began writing romantic comedy, but in 2012 turned to historic fiction with the book “The Sweetness of Forgetting.” Before starting to write each novel, she reads as much as possible, interviews historians and experts and talks to survivors of the topic.

She may do some research during her writing, but it is to qualify small details, not change the story line. 

Her advice to new writers is to read to gain insight into the rhythm of storytelling. Then, outline a favorite book that has been successful to help understand flow, structure and character development. As a safety net, she likes to outline all her books so she always knows where the story is going.

“The story might change a little from the outline to the end of the book as characters develop,” Harmel said. “An outline provides a road map, but there are different routes you can take.”

Her next book is due to be published in August 2026. It follows the style of one of her favorite movies, Love Actually, and features seven interwoven love stories that take place over the course of a week in modern day Paris.

Harmel does more than craft stories, however. She and other bestselling authors, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry host “Friends & Fiction,” a live Facebook and YouTube show each Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time. They chat with some of the biggest names in publishing today.

A breast cancer survivor, Hamel admits she had to pause writing while undergoing treatment. But as an author, she felt compelled to share her journey with breast cancer with others. She announced it on the weekly web show and uses book tours to encourage women over 40 to get a breast exam. 

As the life of the main character in her current bestseller, “The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau,” is defined due to her choices, so is every life, Harmel says.  

“Think about your choices. Life is too short to be anything other than what you want to be.”