SJ Renard Writer
Inspiration through stories
Real and Imagined
"SJ follows her heart, memories, and experiences when fingers are put to keys.
Family, friends, and followers will attest, a prominent characteristic and trademark of SJ's, is her anecdotal storytelling." -mk
Welcome. I’m SJ Renard—writer, essayist, memoirist, and seeker of deeper truths through story.
This is where I explore healing, memory, and the complexity of being human. Here you’ll find thoughts, excerpts, information about WIPs and other writings past and present, along with links to socials and reflections on my writing life. Whether you’re here for connection, inspiration, or curiosity, I’m glad you found your way.
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing
we need most in the world.”
--Philip Pullman
My Journey
Behind the Writer
Writing has always been an outlet for me. A way to commemorate endearing moments and process disharmonious times.
However, writing was not always something I considered making a living with. I knew I had within me stories to tell but couldn't imagine the path. In fact, as years passed and I contemplated aspirations of becoming a published author, the road seemed blocked by fear and anxiety of the process, the rejection, and judgement.
After decades of writing privately, I ventured out of my comfort zone, sharing some of my writing first with close childhood friends, then my children, and finally my husband.
Now, I'm stepping out again. Pursuing a wider audience, which I hope will include you.
Fits and spurts of validation continue to give me the confidence to believe I just may have something of value to share with the world.
My Vision for You
Reading Opens Your Heart, Mind, and Soul.
As any writer will tell you, writing is a laborious, tedious, and all-consuming process, when you're in it. I become so entangled and engaged in what I see happening in mind's eye, that the world around me simply falls away.
I want you to experience that vision in real-time. So that you can see and feel the writing; experience the reality of the words.
In this, I hope you are able to drift away to new places, complete with emotional connections that draw you in and embody you.
That's the gift and the goal.
“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works”