Respected by students and colleagues, Heather Tierney has become a pillar of the community at Buffalo High School. Every day she can be seen teaching English courses, but her true dedication to her craft doesn’t just occur in literature class. Along with being a teacher, Tierney is also an author. In 2014, she published her first book, The Freedom of a Tangled Vine. Despite having a yearning to write more, she thought that was the only book she would publish.
“I thought I was done with the first book,” she said. “I’d always wanted to write a book, and once I did, I figured that was it.”
But inspiration struck Tierney one morning when visiting her hometown in Wisconsin. While having breakfast at the old train depot, she began to notice the history molded into the place. Those worn out floorboards told stories, stories about the people who used to travel through the station.
“I started thinking about who they were, why they were traveling, and where they were going,” she said. “That’s when the idea for the book began.”
If The Train Arrives is Tierney’s second published novel that centers around events at the very train station where she was having breakfast. This work of fiction focuses on three central characters who find their stories connecting at the train station in the most unexpected ways possible, showing how their actions affect other people’s lives.
“The book is really about how our choices impact people,” Tierney explained “And how we all need others around us to feel a sense of belonging.”
While focusing on this main theme, there are also aspects drawn from the author’s personal life. One of the emotional themes of the book focuses on the struggles of caring for old parents, something the author has experienced firsthand.
“My parents are in their late seventies, making it close to my heart,” she said. “That’s the most emotional piece for me in this book.”
The writing process took four years to complete, with most writing done in the summer during Tierney’s breaks from teaching. As a result, it was written piece by piece over these years. The pressure began to build in the third summer when Vine Leaf Press offered to publish the book.
“When the publisher said they would take the book, I realized I needed to get serious about this,” Tierney explained “So over the next year I would start working on it whenever I had spare time.”
The entirety of the fourth and final summer was spent revising and editing the book before the mid-July deadline.
In order to maximize her time, Tierney would often find unconventional ways to progress on writing her novel. When undertaking long drives to visit her family, she would use an audio recorder to “verbally write” and put together her ideas for the book.
“I’d talk to the recorder and say things like ‘comma’ or ‘period’, I’d actually say the punctuation”, she said laughing. “Even if I only took a couple of hours on the drive, that’s a lot of time that you can work.”
When asked what she hopes people get from reading If The Train Arrives, the answer was straight forward.
“I hope they enjoy it,” Tierney said “It’s very character driven, so if the reader wants action then this isn’t the right fit. It’s built on character development and the relationships between characters.”
Now that her second book has been released, Tierney intends to keep on writing.
“I have a small idea, but it is a long ways away. There is a character from If The Train Arrives that I really love, and I want to tell the backstory of the character, but I don’t really write during the school year,” Tierney explained. “Maybe this coming summer, I’ll get started on that.”
Heather Tierney’s passion for literature is clearly visible through her writing. If The Train Arrives is a story delivered with such heart that it is impossible to ignore. From the characters to its celebration of midwest imagery and lifestyle, If The Train Arrives is an essential piece of Minnesota literature.
It The Train Arrives by Heather Tierney is available at Buffalo Books and Coffee, through her publisher Vine Leaf Press, and on all online retailers.
