I have added a subcategory to this page, where you can read about the process of creating each of my published stories. Should you have any questions about my work as a writer or the stories themselves then feel free to contact me.

My journey started in an early age. I started by telling about my “dreams” to other children.

I quickly realized that sharing funny or interesting dreams was a thing, but also that dreams rarely make sense when you retell them. Most dreams even lacked proper endings! I had to fix that. I paid attention to which dreams and stories the other children seemed most interested in, and adapted my dream retellings to fit what they liked. I loved to make them react to the words I picked. I learned to make people smile and laugh. When I got a real genuine “wow”, I was over the moon! I was truly happy when somebody asked if I had dreamt anything new – even when I had no real dreams to work with.

Why dreams? At the time, I had low confidence so I wasn’t brave enough to tell the truth. To tell others, that the stories weren’t dreams, but in fact something I made up on the spot, seemed dangerous. People were enjoying my dreams and I was sure they would feel cheated, if they learned about the truth. A child’s logic is its own thing 😛

It just wasn’t enough and I found myself applying one of the main “rules” of writing: write the stories that you want to read, but can’t find. Of course, I couldn’t spell, even if my life depended on it, and I made my handwriting extremely terrible to hide that fact. Now add that I wrote with a pencil in a notebook and wupti! Stories took shape (not that even I could read a few weeks later).

It was a wonderful time! Just me and my secret stories filled with everything that I loved.

I finished my first book by the age of 17. I say first because this one was the first one I actually edited. It was the first time I wrote a book on a computer, so to me, it became a more “real” project. The story itself was one that I had been rewriting for years. In the past, I had finished a version, lost it, or couldn’t read it, and then started over. This time around I did not have those problems. I finished it. Showed it to a few friends, so they could help with the spelling errors. That was still a problem. I even recorded an audio version for a special person who was going blind. At the time, it was the best book I had ever made. Therefore, I sent it off to Gyldendal, a big Danish publisher that I deeply respected.

They were too kind and I am still grateful for that! They rejected it – and they should. Looking at it years later, I am still amazed that they even took their time to read it, haha. I had broken the rules about how to send them a manuscript, and should not even have gotten trough the door. But someone read it, and I got my letter of rejection.

Here’s what made it so important to get rejected. I sent the manuscript as an “I finished a book” celebration, and I didn’t think I would hear anything at all. I also didn’t hope for it. I just wanted to see what it would feel like. The publisher surprised me by writing back. They also planted seeds that would be much needed many years later. They took the time to tell me about my strengths, and explained that they rejected it due to the story not being original enough (which it really wasn’t). By the end, they said, that if I wrote anything in the future I was very welcome to send it their way. That with more practice I stood a real chance of being published one day. I know this publisher has it as a policy not to destroy but to inspire noob writers, but it still felt very personal and genuine. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had kept at it back then. BUT what if rarely brings something useful with it, unless you are using it to be creative.

I stopped writing and didn’t start again until five or six years later. It had nothing to do with the rejection. I was struggling on several fronts and there simply was no more of me to give.

When I picked up writing again any thoughts of publications were long gone. I hadn’t even thought about that rejection letter in years. It, along with other stuff I loved, was lost during my parents’ divorce. It blew off the trailer in a snowstorm (yes, literally), and I never found it again. In the years that had passed, I had gotten myself a heavy case of PTSD and my schizotypal was in full bloom. Some say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, but I don’t think they know what they are talking about. Sure, we may change and learn about ourselves, but some things just break you. Then you are left to figure out how to work with the pieces that remain, until you over time build new ones. I, personally, fled back to the one thing that had always been there for me: writing.

I returned to my favourite rule and started writing my epic fantasy series: ‘Dance of E’cen’ that contains all the stuff that I love. It has helped me far more than I care to explain. I eventually began to branch out and have writer goals again. DoE means too much for me to publish it just yet. Since it also became my ‘learning the ropes’ project, there is a lot of editing to do now. But in the future, I hope to share it with those interested in fantasy ❤

Back to those seedlings! It felt like I was starting from the beginning with writing. I was older and saw everything slightly different. Every new step seemed like the first time all over again. But one thing, that I didn’t have to fear, was getting my first rejection. Sending stories to publishers while dealing with anxiety hasn’t been easy, but having had such a positive experience with rejections early in life, has helped me to press that ‘Send’ button. I have also tried to hold on to the ideal that 17 years old me had. That the process of sending a manuscript off is in itself, both a skill that needs practice and a cause for celebration – no matter the outcome.

That said I do believe in careful preparation. I like to think that shows, in the number accepted and high-tiered rejections I have gotten back, compared to the relatively low number of stories I have sent out.

To the future! Writing is amazing. There’s so much to do and explore, whether you write with a publishing goal in mind, or for the sake of your personal enjoyment. It is a healthy way to stay sane, in a world that isn’t always. I have a lot of hopes and wants when it comes to writing, but I also prefer flexibility and freedom, so my plans are rarely set in stone. One thing I am practising lately is ‘realistic planning‘ and the ‘ability to accurately guess how long the moving pictures in my head are going to be, when they are translated to paper‘, before I actually write them!