The Stories I Write

I get this question all the time and it’s a tricky one to answer.

Genre

I’ve written both fantasy and historical. I read very eclectically so that gets reflected in what I write. More recently I’ve been focusing on my historical writing especially topics that aren’t covered in school.

I’d call what I write a historical/retelling mash up. 😂 It’s a super obvious genre to put on a shelf so booksellers and librarians eat your heart out. lol

Essentially, I like to take stories and overlay them over a new time period. For example, I’ve rewritten the story of Samson but placed it in the 1960s in an area known for its racial tension. Instead of fighting against the Philistines his war is against Chief Phil Stein and his racist cop buddies.

Age Category

I like to write for YA but my stories (because of some of the darker themes they grapple with) lend themselves to older YA and perhaps NA if that was still an accepted category. That being said, the style of writing and the issues that are grappled with could also be aged up to Adult. But my writing heart rests with teens. ❤️

That being said, I’m currently working on a lighter piece that is definitely MG in nature. I never thought I’d find myself in that space. 🤔

My stories don’t often “speak” to me but this project had a very strong opinion of who and what it wanted to be. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

Themes

– racism and more recently what it means to be biracial
– living “inbetween” two worlds as many of us do
– adoption

Tone

One of my teen readers told me I write great tragedies. 😂

To be honest, I like to think my stories are about hope. But as an author I don’t shy away from the darkness. I believe hope shines brightest there. I think the term is “gritty”. I don’t go into explicit detail (sorry, no gritty sex scenes or violence for the sake of violence here) but they do exist in my world. Because that’s reality.

Hope can’t only be found on the sunlit paths where butterflies frolic and Bambi is alive (too soon?).

The beauty, and strength, of hope is that it can withstand the darkest depths.

Why?

I write about history (especially forgotten Canadian history) because I feel like as a country we’ve lost some of that information and I want to give it back.

I write YA history because I think it’s important for teenagers to see that in the past people worried about their image, loved, hated, lost, fought with friends, and found their way. This is not unique to us in this age.

I write fiction instead of non-fiction because I believe most people lean in when someone starts with “Once upon a time…” as opposed to “These are the facts.” And if they learn something on their journey all the better.

I write about difficult paths because in my lifetime I’ve travelled many of them to find truth, hope and joy. Teens need to see there’s no one path. Convoluted paths can still end with happiness.

I look forward to sharing my writing, and a little bit of my heart, with you all.