His 'Return to Christmas' went national, but he has no plans for anything more at this point.

But every time I tried to pursue a national idea, I would just get a stupor of thought.' 'It was always my intent to use the LDS market as a stepping stone to the national market. Heimerdinger said he feels comfortable with the niche he's carved for himself. And much of his audience has grown up with him. 'I write the kind of books I like to read,' he said. Several of his leading characters have been teens, but a lot of them have also been adults. If it sounds as if they have Book of Mormon names, it's because they do.Īlthough he has a lot of young-reader fans, Heimerdinger doesn't specifically write young-adult fiction, he said. 'But I've been incredibly blessed to be able to write about subjects that I care about and still feed my family.' He and his wife, Beth, have four children: Steven Teancum, Christopher Ammon, Alyssia Sariah and Elizabeth Liahona Cecelia. There were some lean years at first, he said. Heimerdinger has been writing full-time since 1990. 'No one has made any LDS action-adventure-fantasy films.'īut he is not abandoning novels, which will be good news for his fans who are pressuring him for another 'Tennis Shoes' book. And he thinks this kind of movie has potential. But his major at Brigham Young University was filmmaking, so he's looking forward to this new challenge. Though he has done some documentaries and company videos, this will be Heimerdinger's first foray into dramatic directing. But I've filmed the first chapter to show people that I can direct.' 'We're still dotting i's and crossing t's and raising money.

He said he published that book himself so there would be no question about movie rights, and he plans to write and direct the film, as well. His latest book, 'Passage to Zarahelma,' is on its way to the screen. (For more information, go online to And Heimerdinger's dream of a movie is going to come true, as well, he said. His books have sold between 800,000 and 900,000 copies in all and have also been released in audio versions. He's done eight more books in the 'Tennis Shoes' series, has set three in New Testament times and has worked in some other historical settings. Some 14 years and more than that many books later, Heimerdinger has developed a loyal following of readers young and old. 'I just decided to flesh it out.'Īnd his wife suggested the title: 'Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites.'

It was based on a dream he had while he was serving an LDS mission in Gainesville, Fla., he said. His first book, a story of three young kids who are magically transported back to Book of Mormon times, was published in 1989. 'My first love is really storytelling,' Heimerdinger said, and he decided he could do it with words as well as images. 'But when I got out of college, no one wanted to give me a million dollars to make a movie,' he said.

Chris Heimerdinger actually wanted to be a filmmaker.

Chris heimerdinger