Meeting Readers and Writers

There is something special about taking a story that has lived quietly inside you and finally placing it into the hands of another person.

Since publishing Behind Closed Doors, I have begun stepping beyond the page and meeting the people who are reading it. Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing my memoir with a wonderful local book club, followed by a lovely gathering with the Writers’ Club at The Heretaunga Women’s Centre in Hastings.

Both experiences reminded me of something I had perhaps forgotten while spending so much time alone with my writing:

Stories are not meant to exist in isolation.

Writing can be an incredibly solitary experience. You spend hours alone with your thoughts, your memories, your emotions and your words. You question whether what you are writing will connect with anyone else. You edit, rewrite, second-guess and sometimes stare at the same blank page wondering where to go next. Then something changes. You step outside the writing cave and sit in a room with other people and suddenly those words become a conversation.

A reader shares what a story meant to them. A question opens up a new thought. Someone sees something from a perspective you hadn't considered. A writer shares an idea, and it sparks another. A simple conversation can lead to a new idea, a new opportunity, a new connection, or sometimes an entirely new perspective on the journey you're already taking. Those conversations matter.

There is something incredibly powerful about bringing readers and writers together. Books can open doors to conversations that might otherwise never happen, giving us a safe place to explore difficult subjects, shared experiences, emotions and the things we don't always know how to say ourselves. And perhaps that is why writing matters to me so much.

Writing is another form of expression. Much like an artist places their thoughts and feelings onto a canvas, a writer uses words to create something from the experiences, ideas and emotions living inside them. And just as an artist experiments with different styles, colours and themes, writers should do the same.

Write the story.

Write the poem.

Keep a journal.

Explore an idea.

Write something messy. Write something imperfect. Write something that may never be published and may only ever belong to you. Not everything we create needs to be polished or perfect. Sometimes we simply need to create. And sometimes, those words we write quietly for ourselves find their way into the hands of someone else and become something more.

That is what I am beginning to discover as I step further beyond the pages of Behind Closed Doors.

I hope to continue connecting with readers, book clubs, writers and community groups, sharing stories and creating spaces where we can talk openly about the experiences that shape us.

Because whether we are writing the story, reading it, or simply sitting together and talking about it, there is something beautiful about the way stories can connect us. Perhaps you have a story inside you too.

Maybe it is a memoir waiting to be written. A poem. A collection of thoughts in an old journal. Or simply words you have never quite found a place for.

You don't have to know where they are going.

You don't have to call yourself a writer.

You don't even have to share them with anyone.

Just start.

Take a blank page.

And see what comes.

For me, this is only the beginning.