Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to D.M. Darcy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
D.M., thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
With regards to being an author, I wish I would have started sooner.
I was always a writer. I wrote all kinds of stories, poems, songs when I was young. It’s how I escaped the world I lived in as a young child/teen. My origin story—if you will—is on the dark side. I’ll refrain from specific details here unless asked further on the matter.
Unfortunately, my father was less than supportive regarding the idea of his daughter being an aspiring writer, and he wasn’t afraid to tell me exactly his thoughts. At 17, I stopped writing due to his influence.
I went on to become what I thought he would want, despite going no contact shortly after. Earned a PhD in psychology, started a very successful elopement photography business—I didn’t write creatively again until I was 39. I didn’t feel safe to. When I published my first novel at 40, I healed a part of myself. The fact my work resonates with others is both heartbreaking and humbling. There’s so much of what I experienced in many of the small (and not so small) details of my debut novel.
If I had started sooner—if I had the courage to write again sooner—I could have honed my craft over literal decades. I mourn the time lost. In the same vein, I don’t think I would have been able to create what I did without the experiences I endured or enjoyed, and lived.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, creativity and art are akin to lifeblood for me. Without it, I feel smothered. I suffocate. Without writing as an outlet, I turned to other artforms—photography being the primary. Hence the creation of an elopement photography business. And while I love everything I do for all of my couples and the art we create together on their celebration day, being able to write again is like breathing. I’ve no intention of halting my business, I adore what I do. Photography has enabled me to travel around the world with numerous couples in love, and some of the places I’ve visited have inspired places in the world I’ve created within my debut novel.
I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished. But I’m most proud of my writing. Like my photography, my novel isn’t going to resonate with everyone but I’m not going to let anyone who decides to tear it apart keep me from doing it ever again. It’s unnerving entering into the world of authorship at 40 years old, but more than anything, I wanted to prove to myself I could.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’ve often been told I need to write an autobiography. I grew up in a severely broken home. Having emancipated myself at 16, I learned very quickly what it took to live as an adult. I had my son at 24, returned to college at 26, started my photography business (part-time) at 27, went fulltime with my photography business at 36, graduated with my PhD at 37, and published my first novel at 40.
Statistically, I shouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as I have. Not with everything stacked against me. I made ends meet for years on an income of $800 a month as a single mother while attending classes, while on waiting lists for Section 8 Housing (which I never received), I worked three jobs during the summers, sacrificing time with my son to ensure he would have what he needed for school, or to be able to get him Christmas gifts.
I had to adopt a polyphasic sleep schedule to make it work. And even now, years after enduring that part of my life, I can’t sleep for more than 5-6 hours at a time. I look back and I don’t know how I did it. But I know if I had to do it again, I would.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
With regards to my photography business, being able to create art with a couple that will last generations. Capturing moments—authentic moments—that show the thought they’ve put into their celebration (whether that be an intimate wedding or elopement), what they’re feeling, and/or the reverence and space they hold for one another. I’ll never get tired of it.
With regards to my journey as an author, being able to create entire worlds for people to escape to when reality is a little too grim. My work edges on grimdark, epic fantasy, but I am a romance author. And being able to find steadfast security in another to take on the world is sometimes what we need. My “tagline” if you will, is that I write grim worlds, gray characters, and gleaming romance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dmdarcy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordmdarcy/
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@author.dm.darcy
Image Credits
Donna Marie Photo Co.