Rising Stars: Meet S.R. Crickard

Today we’d like to introduce you to S.R. Crickard.

Hi S.R., it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Acting as a translator for my family from a very young age gave me a love of the English language, which naturally included a love of reading and writing. Being a first-generation American and bilingual, I have a deep respect for the power of words. I was also an annoyingly imaginative child. I think at some point someone who was very tired of listening to my fantastical ideas told me to write them down. I wrote hundreds of stories throughout my childhood, all of which my mother praised as only a mother can. They were all pretty terrible. In 2019, I found and joined the Catholic Writer’s Guild, and met not only mentors in writing but also dear friends. I’m so grateful they chose to eviscerate those early stories. I dove into turning out as many short stories as I could and seeking any feedback I could get from knowledgeable writers; the harsher the better. By writing and rewriting stories until they withstood the most critical reader’s eye, I was able to learn about my own process for building a story. I still participate in evisceration meetings– I mean critique sessions– on a regular basis.

I find a lot of inspiration in music. I’m not a musician, but our home is never silent. We always have music playing. Many of my ideas have come from imagery or emotion I’ve gotten from a song. Music has become important to my creative process.

In 2022, my short story, Dinja Duwar, was featured in ‘For the Good of the Realm,’ an anthology from Lagrange Books. It was a very exciting milestone for me as an author.

I think the most important thing I’ve adopted as a writer and as a person is the practice of Memento Mori. I think that living with the knowledge that you aren’t promised tomorrow is very uncomfortable, but it’s also freeing. Don’t wait to do the things you were made to do!

My upcoming full-length novel, ‘Misshelved Magic,’ is my love letter to bookish, nerdy women everywhere. It’s also an encouragement to stop waiting and start being who you want to be because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes and no. I think that when you’ve got storytelling in your DNA, you will find a way to do it. For that reason, it’s been easy. The discipline and ability to take criticism are harder. I’ve been very blessed to meet other authors willing to mentor me, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without them. Everyone has a different creative process, and I had a learning curve figuring mine out. 

In the strange way that creativity works, a very difficult and grief-filled season of life led to my best story, the one I’m in the process of publishing. 

I think that embracing the uncomfortable usually winds up being easier in the end. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I believe that fiction can be a mirror for reality, showing us what’s true, what isn’t, and what could be. I love bringing my own mix of interests into the fantasy genre. I especially like to find magical twists to issues of grief, death, and family relationships. I think that grief can sometimes be misrepresented in media because it’s uncomfortable, and it’s also very hard to capture, being that it will strike everyone differently. I endeavor to represent grief and, more importantly, the hidden gifts that hide therein. Family, friendship, and the relationship with oneself are tested and made stronger when hardships are weathered together. 

My current project is a full-length novel titled Misshelved Magic. It follows Adelina, a young woman whose content to be a humble librarian with no magic until she finds a misshelved spell book that’s too afraid of the mysterious noises behind the bookshelves to stay in its proper place. 

I’m in dialogue with a publisher and hope to share Misshelved Magic with the world very soon. Updates can be found on my website: Srcrickard.com. 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I really experienced the value of human connections, especially in times of uncertainty. I also learned I’m really bad at baking. 

Pricing:

• For the good of the Realm $14.99

Contact Info:

• Website: srcrickard.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/srcrickard
• Other: https://amazon.com/author/srcrickard

Image Credits
Ashley Tabler Photography