Stephanie

/stˈɛfəni/

noun

1. A partaker in woman-centred discussions, a person focused on works representing the underrepresented.
2. A bookish butterfly, one who talks about fictional characters as though they were real.
3. A wordy birdy, a person who writes sometimes. 
4. A planty aunty.
5. A beta-reader and editor-in-training.

Greetings Wordies!

My name is Stephanie and I am from the diverse city of London, located in the United Kingdom.

My reading obsession began as a toddler, when my mother would fall asleep reading fairy tales to me. Out of frustration (and not wanting to wake my exhausted parent), I would try to ‘read’ them to myself from memory or by using the pictures. I soon got tired of that, and demanded to learn how to read words for myself.

As I got older and my appetite for reading grew, I started to question something that bothered me more and more.

Why were there no stories about people who looked like me?

After finishing most of the books at the small library near my childhood home, I decided to write what I could not find. I wrote stories about people who looked like me and my diverse group of friends. I continued to look for more diversity in stories. Eventually, my journey led me to an English Language and Literature Degree.

Now, I still love reading, but I love writing as well. I just love words and the many magical ways we can weave them in order to communicate. Whilst I enjoy reading almost anything that meets my eyes, my first loves are fantasy, dystopian, self-help and memoir. I love relatable, thought-provoking tales that not only entertain, but cause us to reflect on our environment or to look at things from a new angle.

And happily for me, I am finally starting to see characters that look like me and all the people whose voices went unheard in literature in the past — and I’m here for it.

Diversity and representation in literature is important to me because I believe that everyone who holds a story in their heart should be able to tell it, and everyone who wants to be the star of their own adventure should be able to find it. This blog is for anyone who feels the same. I hope that you find my posts interesting. If you don’t, please kindly let me know what sort of things you would like me to write about as I am open to friendly ideas!

When I am not reading, I am caring for my collection of 70+ houseplants, taking mindful walks, crafting, or having a giggle with my tween.