Let's talk stories...

Hi, my name's Jennifer (or Jen for short), and as the blog title gives away--I love to tell stories. And to read stories. Or watch them, or play them. And especially to write them.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember; even before I could physically write, I would dictate stories to my parents. (From this came my first fairytale retelling; Snow White and the Forty Good Men. I had wanted it to be the forty thieves, like in the third Aladdin movie, but my Mom didn't think thieves were good characters for a four year old to be writing about and we made a compromise. Thus, my first experience with editorial meddling.) (Love you, Mom) 

I didn't have a handy photo of five year old me dictating fairy tale retellings, but here's a shot of eight year old me dressed up as a cowgirl for Halloween.

A document I found in a box of old homework assignments. I don't for the life of me remember where "Silent Sariah Weston" came from as a pen name, but at least I was confident?

This is not meant to be any kind of bragging on my part, by the way. I certainly started writing young, but thirty years later I have very little to show for it. A few poems in grade school literary magazines, one horror story published in an anthology ten years ago, several NaNoWriMo attempts at varying levels of success (remember when that was a thing?), and a lot of unfinished projects. 

Me playing dress up, because it turns out not that much has changed since I was a kid

The simple fact, and also the excuse, is that life gets in the way. I've prioritized school and jobs and relationships, all while juggling ADHD and depression and other neuro-spicy challenges-- writing has just had to take a back burner. Or probably it's more accurate to say I've let it take the back burner. I haven't let go of that dream, but I've sure put a lot of other things first.

This year is different, though. At least, I want it to be.

2025 has been a rough year. Not just for me; there's a lot going on and quite frankly we're ALL having a heck of a decade. But besides any global or existential concerns, there's been some more personal struggles. I've had a difficult break up, and things aren't going so great at my day job. I won't get too personal about it here; we'll just say I've had a lot of fear and hurt and anger to process, and a strong motivation to make something in my life I can control. And the good news is that all of this has been fueling my writing; I've been putting my energy and emotions into writing in a way that I haven't done since I was in college. And it's hard and exciting and fun and scary and magical. And I'm hoping this is finally the time that I manage to stop dreaming and start doing.

So, yeah. I'm trying to get back into writing in a big way.

I recently attended the Pre-Quill Writing Conference, an event hosted every spring by the League of Utah Writers. It was awesome. I learned a lot from the presentations. But one of the most incredible things to me was that I was seeing so many writers living my dream in a realistic way; most of the people there have day jobs and families and lives, but they are also telling stories and finding ways to do what they love. I'll probably never be the kind of writer that you see on the New York Times bestseller's list (much to the disappointment of my younger self), but I think I can aspire to be the kind of writer that has a small audience and uses it well. 

One of the presenters at the conference recommended starting to build an online presence, even before you are published. The idea, or at least one of the ideas, is that when you do have a book out there, then you need a place for people to find you. Especially if you are self publishing or publishing through a small company. It's also part of building a brand, which is something every business owner (and that includes writers) has to do.

So, well, here I am. It's not my first attempt at blogging; I've got a long neglected personal blog, and I did a stint blogging about music therapy and disabilities during a previous job. But this time around, I'm going to be talking about writing.

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what that's going to look like yet. I'm playing this a little by ear. But I have one (slightly unconventional) writing project, and I figure I can talk a bit about that. About things I'm learning in my research, about the process I'm going through, about some of the stories I'm inspired by. Maybe someday I'll try my hand at writing advice, though that feels a little presumptuous just now. If you are reading this, well, then you're probably related to me. (Hi Mom!) But if you are reading this and have a question for me, I'm willing to accept suggested topics as well. 

So that's it for right now. I want to tell you about my current main writing project: a Murder Mystery party. But that's a story for another time.

🫶 Jen