On July 3, Heather Mohan and her childhood friend, Lisa Purdue, were chatting about life’s funniest moments. Mohan surprised Purdue — lovingly referred to as Quags, due to her maiden name Quaglieri — with a story her friend never heard before.
The friends — who both graduated from Gateway and roomed together in college — had discussed Mohan writing a book about all of her wild stories. That day, Mohan decided she was finally going to go for it.
“My goal was to launch on Halloween,” the Monroeville resident said.
So Mohan got started, retelling stories from her past — stories that are laugh-out-loud hilarious and genuine. It all came to fruition as a collection of 21 true, chaotic tales titled “Hold My Spicy Margarita … and Listen to This!”
Mohan enlisted her Gateway High School English teacher, Doreen Varuolo, to edit her book.
“We stayed in contact over the years,” Mohan said.
Now retired from teaching, Varuolo occasionally edits for major publishing companies.
Mohan describes “Hold My Spicy Margarita” as a “funny memoir, a dramedy biography, a delightfully cuckoo anthology.”
On its publication date of Oct. 30, “Hold My Spicy Margarita” hit No. 1 in three categories on Amazon and earned the Top New Release in Paperback title, marking an exciting milestone for the debut.
“Writing this book felt like sitting down with an old friend over a spicy margarita — honest, funny and a little bit spicy,” Mohan said. “It’s a love letter to the people and moments that make life unpredictable and worth talking about.”
The new author celebrated her book release Nov. 7 at Events on Ten in the Jonnet Building.
“I had a moment of, ‘Why are my stories any better than anyone else?’ ” Mohan remembered. “But I wanted people to relate. To bring a smile to people’s faces, even just a 15-minute escape, if they’re having a bad day.”
With Mohan’s genuine, unapologetic stories of disastrous first dates, flaming cars and fake IDs, “Hold My Spicy Margarita” is bound to make anyone laugh.
On Nov. 13, Mohan hosted a coloring party at the Monroeville Public Library, where patrons were gifted a copy of the illustrated “Hold My Spicy Margarita … and Color This!”
“It was very engaging,” Mohan said. “People were asking great questions, and we read stories.”
Why the spicy margarita?
“I like spicy,” Mohan said.
While working at the Sheraton, Mohan and the others were tasked with creating a new cocktail — hers was a pineapple jalapeño margarita.
Mohan started college at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania but moved home when her father passed away; she was just 18. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in business communications and a minor in Japanese.
In high school, Mohan worked as a lifeguard at Conley’s, then took a job at the Hilton in Pittsburgh.
“I just kind of never left the industry,” she said.
Now, Mohan works part time at the Monroeville Convention Center and does tattoo and hair removal at a local spa. She has volunteered at Monroeville Public Library and the Garden City Food Pantry.
A lifelong Monroeville resident, Mohan purchased her childhood home, where she still resides. She dedicated the book to her mother.
“I drove her berserk and she drove me berserk, but we loved each other and she was proud of me,” Mohan said.
What’s next for the new author? Mohan hopes to turn “Hold My Spicy Margarita” into an audiobook and have a second book published within the year.
Mohan will be signing books at 6 p.m. Dec. 10 at Feathers Gift Shop, 102 Fourth St., Irwin.
