I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I write and how it all came about. And I’ve also been asked that question recently, to which I had a very short answer: I enjoy it. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
My love for writing came when I first read The Stand (Steven King)…in primary school. Yeah, I know, that’s not exactly the kind of book a nine year old should be reading (and no, I wouldn’t let my kid read it next year). But I was a strange kid. I had childhood trauma and found that I didn’t particularly gel with anyone at school, so I was in the school library every single break. After school, my older sister would pick me up and we would go to the town library where I would devour books beyond my reading-age. The Stand opened up a world of possibilities for me. Not only did I find King’s descriptive writing incredibly advance (remember this was in the early nineties), I was enamoured by his imagination. To the point where, after I had finished the book (which I was not allowed to borrow from the library, so would write down the last page read, so I could go back the next day to pick up where I left off) I craved more of King’s literary works.
At the age of ten, I failed my English comprehension exams over and over again, because I couldn’t finish my story in the allotted time. Why? Because my imagination was so wild, I could only ever make it through the start and middle before the time was up. What I ended doing was go home after and finish the story and take it to school the next day only for my teacher to tell me it was too late 🙂
In my last year of primary Schoo, I wrote what I thought was my most imaginative, creative essay ever—I was twelve! My teacher gave my paper back to me a few days later, with a huge F in red ink and words underneath. I don’t recall the entire paragraph he wrote, but what stood out to me and I still remember to this day was this: “Try not to think too much about creating these worlds, but rather double and triple-check your work.”
I didn’t write another creative essay for three years after that.
I co-wrote a play for the drama club in high school a few years later and because it was so well-received, it ignited that same passion for words and creating stories. I started writing teen romance short stories for my friends at school. But I was also super shy and even when they encouraged me to take my craft further, I could still hear the words from that teacher, in the red ink.
Back in the early 2000’s, I wrote a novella that will never see the light of day and had a colleague take it home and read. She came back a few days later and said, with such confidence that I should publish it. And that she enjoyed the story so much, the characters were relatable and she could even see in her minds eye, the scenes I was creating on paper.
Still, I’m an introvert. It was until I had a baby and couldn’t figure out what to do with my time while baby was sleeping, that I once again picked up my pen and notepad and started writing. And that is how Gretchen Wolf was born.
I’m nowhere near where I would like to be with my writing. And it’s all a learning process. But I am proud of how far I have come. I still enjoy creating worlds that are happier than the one we are currently in. Whether it is setting my stories in real places with a twist or creating towns within real places, it’s a creative process that I enjoy to my core. My characters are some of my closest friends during the writing process of a book. And the best part is when my readers tell me that they feel like they are living in those stories with my characters!
It’s the best feeling in the world. And no one can ever take that away from me. Not even in red ink!
So, if you enjoy clean, sweet, closed-door romance, set in often idyllic towns, with characters who are relatable, I invite you to follow along on this journey. Hit the subscribe button at the bottom of this post; check out my other posts on the blog; follow me on social media; or just come and hang out in the comments section. I always look forward to hearing from my readers. I’d love to know what you want more of here on the blog as well as in my books.
And if you haven’t yet read a Gretchen Wolf book, what are you waiting for? You can find links to my books with some background info under the ‘Books’ tab at the top of my blog.
Thank you for your support. And if you have a sister, friend, cousin, mum or gran who enjoys a wholesome tale or two, share Gretchen with them.
Until next time, Darlings
Gretchen W