Heather Sharfeddin

Career Sharfeddin's first novel, Blackbelly, was published in 2005 by Bridge Works Publishing. The book was a "Best of the Northwest" pick by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award in 2005 and at the 2010 San Francisco Book Festival. Blackbelly was released in paperback in 2010 under the title Sweetwater Burning. Edelson was introduced briefly in Blackbelly.

In 2009, her third novel, Windless Summer, was published by Random House. The story follows single father Tom Jemmet, a motel owner in the fictional town of Rocket, Washington. Sharfeddin's fourth novel, Damaged Goods, was published in 2011 by Random House and is set in rural western Oregon. It follows the relationship of an auctioneer recovering from a traumatic brain injury and a woman who has survived decades of abuse. Sharfeddin's fifth novel, What Keeps You, was released by Martin Brown Publishing in 2016. It follows 16-year-old Eva as she avoids certain death, and a group of souls trapped in a graveyard being dug up by a road crew.

Sharfeddin refers to her work as contemporary Western, and the Center for Literary Publishing, as well as a contributor to Dirt & Seeds, where she serialized her novel Between. In addition to writing, she has also taught at Randolph-Macon College, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Linfield College. To mark the occasion of a book signing in Sharfeddin's hometown of Riggins, Idaho, mayor Bob Crump declared April 6, 2011 "Heather Mason Sharfeddin Day". Salem is a naturalized US citizen originally from Libya.

In 2012, Sharfeddin and her husband opened the Velvet Monkey Tea Shop in McMinnville. In 2018, she was appointed to a 3-year term on the Historic Landmarks Committee in McMinnville.

Publications 2005: Blackbelly, Bridge Works. 2006: Mineral Spirits, Bridge Works. 2009: Windless Summer, Bentam/Delta. 2010: Sweetwater Burning (paperback edition of Blackbelly), Bantam. 2011: Damaged Goods, Bantam. 2016: What Keeps You, Martin Brown Publishing.