Terry Newman

Terry Newman is an American author known for romantic comedies with light paranormal elements. She writes about off-beat characters and uses humour in stories about second chances and emotional change. Her work includes Heartquake (2022), Rewrites of the Heart (2023), The Wizard of Her Heart (2023), Imprinted on the Heart (2025) and Murphy’s Laws (2025).

She should not be confused with the British journalist Terry Newman, a former fashion editor at i-D, Attitude and Self Service, a contributor to major UK newspapers.

Terry Newman has lived most of her life in northeast Ohio, which is the setting for many of her fictional towns. She began writing as a child and later worked across several fields before turning to fiction.

Her first full-time writing role was as editor-in-chief of a national health publishing firm. She also wrote advertising copy for a related company that sold dietary supplements. She later held communications roles with two manufacturing firms, including work at the Harley-Davidson plant in York, Pennsylvania, where she wrote the weekly employee newsletter.

Newman did not focus on fiction until she survived a serious health crisis in 2019. She was in a coma and later wrote to her daughter: “I want to do so much.” During a long period of recovery in a nursing home, she returned to a draft she had set aside. In 202,0 she signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press and has written steadily since then.

Her early novels mix humour, romance and light fantasy. Heartquake follows a coffee shop owner who enters local politics, while rumours spread about her partner’s possible shapeshifting. Rewrites of the Heart centres on a romance author whose characters enter the real world to guide her. The Wizard of Her Heart follows a woman who doubts magic and a boss who claims to cast spells.

Imprinted on the Heart (2025) revisits JJ Spritely, a history professor and writer whose fictional characters, Alex and Blake, return to disrupt her life. The story follows her work troubles, a delayed proposal and the confusion caused by the two characters as they try to help.

Her most recent novel, Murphy’s Laws (2025), presents a contemporary setting without paranormal elements. Murphy Clarke is a life coach who follows seven rules to avoid heartache after being left at the altar. A long vacation breaks her first rule and leads to her meeting Noah Andrews, a former figure in the tech world.

Photo credit: Terry Newman