Peter Heller's 'The Painter' Book Signing

Peter Heller hears voices in his head. 

At least he does while he's writing books.

And that is how The Painter was written. 

"I just listened, and the words came," Heller said, as he explained how the story of The Painter came to be. It was like he was sitting at a campfire with his characters sitting across from him, telling him the story, he said. 

Heller kept telling himself during the writing process, "don't think, just listen."

As Heller was writing The Dog Stars, he realized it was becoming a post-apocalyptic story and worried he would become classified as a genre writer. But The Painter, a literary fiction, proves that he has the capacity to visit different styles and genres of writing effortlessly. 

It was a perfect evening to gather on the patio of The King's English book shop. 

"Three years ago I was just a guy on the street writing articles as fast as I could," Heller said. Now his first book, The Dog Stars, has been optioned to become a movie and The Painter is on everyone's Must Read list this summer. 

"I don't think we as adults get read to enough," Heller said before reading several excerpts from The Painter. 

There is no better experience than listening to an author read their own work, the way they meant for it to be read. It was hard not to jump up and clap after each excerpt. 

Thanks to The King's English for always bringing such awesome authors and literary experiences to our community each month.