The Journey

Greetings!

When I was a child, there was an old tree stump in my backyard, a marker of the place where the soft green grass of the yard gave way to the thick foliage of the woods. The tree stump bravely faced the final stages of life: yellowing wood caved inwards with rot so profound that the few shavings of bark left were soft as fur. One day, when I was around six years old, I was drawn to sit by the stump. My palms pressed into the damp earth, my fingers curled over the ivory roots protruding from the soil. Above, the sun danced among an awning of verdant leaves, speckling warmth on my shoulders. A voice spoke through the rays of the sun, reverberated from the depths of the rocks beneath the soil, carried on the summer wind: Write, the voice called, Find who you are. Underneath my fingers, I felt the roots of the aged stump grasp my fingers like an old friend. I saw the rays of the sun divide into dazzling colors and layers of light. From the woods, I heard the voice of the forest, squirrels trampling in the brush, branches crackling in the wind. The world suddenly seemed more alive. I found myself gasping to describe all I felt.

Soon after, I began to “write” my first books–drawing pictures because I didn’t know how to write with words, and later that year writing poetry. I was 11 years old when I began writing historical fiction novels. My genre now includes poetry, historical fiction, memoir, short fiction and genealogy. Stands to the Mystery is dedicated to the voice of writing–a mysterious process that uses the writer, much like a conductor, through inspiration, testing and reflection to channel a void of energy into the vibrant expression of words and ideas that ultimately give life to our world.

©2006 Grace of Wynn