Why I Write

As I dip my toe into the world of writing, I keep running into the same question: What made me want to start writing?

Growing up with two history‑loving parents meant my childhood was a steady diet of wonderful films like The Scarlet Pimpernel with Anthony Andrews, the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, and The Lord of the Rings. Add to that the fact that my parents were active members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a medieval reenactment group, and you can imagine the world I grew up in.

My childhood was filled with sleeping in canvas pavilions, learning medieval folksongs around the campfire, attending and serving at period-style feasts, dressing up in medieval garb, attending court, and watching my father participate in armored combat. I lived what most kids only pretended to do when they play knights and ladies. My father is an artist, and during all of this he was working on writing a novel. I loved watching his creative journey unfold.

I owe a special shout‑out to my sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. Hunsaker, who patiently endured my many stories about girls and horses. She told me once that she couldn’t wait to read my first book.

When I was about thirteen, a family friend lent me a stack of clean romance novels. I devoured them. The language, the imagery, the historical social protocols—they fueled my already overactive imagination. Around that same time, I started writing my first Regency romance about a young, spitfire orphaned debutante and a curmudgeonly war hero living in the crumbling, derelict estate next door. I never finished it, but I still have it tucked away.

As I got older, I still loved to write, but I never made it a priority. Life became a swirl of college papers, babies, and reading Goodnight Moon while nodding off in the rocking chair.

Then came 2020. I started writing Re‑Falling for Mr. Mason on my back porch swing while my children did school from home and we all self‑quarantined. I dabbled on and off for a few years, writing other, more mundane things in between.

Last year, I decided to attend a writer’s conference with my best friend, Katherine Wheelwright, who has just released her debut novel, Bound By Prophecy (Shameless plug here, Katie. I expect you to return the favor). Seeing how writing had become a creative outlet for her reminded me how much I had always loved it too. Not wanting to show up empty‑handed to the conference, I decided to put real effort into my writing again. But instead of returning to Mr. Mason, I followed my love of Beauty and the Beast retellings and tried my hand at one myself. At that conference, I entered a workshop competition—and I won! It was exactly the encouragement I needed to give this dream a real try.

Since then, it has been a whirlwind adventure. I had no idea that in just over a year, I would be on this path, pursuing a passion that brings me so much joy. It is definitely not without its heartaches, headaches, and challenges. I think I’ve said at least a dozen times that I’m going to “take a break”. But I just can’t stop.

It’s an obsession, an artistic expression, and so much stinkin’ fun.