We recently connected with Kate Winch and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I have worked on to date is my debut novel, “Restitching Destiny.” It is a historical romance and past life retelling. I learned about a couple of my past lives in March of 2021 and ended up ‘rewriting’ the ending of one of them as a sort of catharsis. I’ve learned about four past lives so far and have every intention of rewriting them, of restitching the stories of who I was in lives past.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a full time music educator who has always wanted to be a writer. My Barbie dolls led very exciting lives, and I have always enjoyed story telling. I wrote creatively throughout high school and was even a fanfiction author while studying to be a music teacher. Life, unfortunately, life-ed and I had to take steps back from writing as I became a mom, a wife, and a music teacher. I tried getting myself back into writing earlier in my teaching career, but nothing really sang to me, and habits didn’t really stick.
Then the pandemic happened.
I went from directing choir, teaching music class, directing a school wide musical to being at home all day every day with my then 2nd grader and 10 month old. We had no guidance on how to actually teach from home, so I had to come up with my own plans and ways of staying connected and engaged with my students, while also working with my own school aged kiddo. It was during that uncertain time, I got back into reading (I know a lot of us did – yay escapism!). I read the first book in the ACOTAR series and it reignited something in my brain. A small flame started simmering under a story idea I had had years before when I was still in college – an epic retelling of The Nutcracker.
I started writing scenes that came to my head before coming up with the (first of several) outlines for the story. As we went back to in person instruction and I taught music going classroom to classroom on a cart, I kept a notebook with me. Bright yellow with multiple subject spots. I still have and use that notebook for my Romantasy trilogy “The Calrean Chronicles” – that notebook of ACOTAR inspired Nutcracker mess is basically the bible for an entire book series now.
In 2021, I had a past life regression session. Not only had I started writing in 2020, but I also embarked on a spiritual journey that I’m still riding the waves of (I don’t think you every really stop, if I’m honest.) Seeing who I was and finding out about one tragic ending was hard – adding that to the near constant mess that was (and still is) the world around me and I needed a way to deal with something. To feel in control of something.
Someone I really looked up to at my local metaphysical shop told me that I could always ‘rewrite the ending.’ That got me to thinking about rewriting the endings of those past lives that I knew about. That led directly to writing my debut novel, Restitching Destiny.
At first, I tried submitting it to a strictly Historical Romance publisher – no dice.
After talking about my story for a few years, working on it and perfecting with my awesome editor and friend, Eliza, I released Restitching Destiny as an independent author in March of 2025.
Since writing the first draft of Restitching Destiny One back in 2022, I have written three other books, with two more close to completion. One book was released in November 2025 – remember all that talk of Nutcracker inspiration and ACOTAR vibes? That’s The Calrean Chronicles – my romantasy trilogy that is really my heart’s book.
I’m definitely not the first teacher to also write (heck, I’m friends with a former music teacher turned six figure author – supper proud of her for living the dream!), but I know that my stories have a uniqueness to them, both in the sense of metaphysical/spiritualism and in voice. And I know that somewhere in this messy stressy world, my stories are meant for someone. Just like the stories that I have loved were meant for me.
I’m not lucky enough to be at a point in my life where I can only focus on writing. I’m firmly (and happily) working as a music educator AT LEAST until my youngest graduates high school. This means stories are not a frequent as some other authors, and the busy season at my day job means even less of me to be creative with. But it’s my goal to never stop trying. So long as there are stories in my head, it’s my intention to write them down and get them into the hands of readers. Because you never know who might need your story or when they might need it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, its all about telling the stories of my characters. They are very much real to me (some of them having BEEN ME in a past life) and when they want something told, it’s my job to do that. I have told my editor more than once, “Yeah, I had a plan. They decided they hated it and went a totally different route.” 9 times out of 10, the character hijacks end up exceptionally better than my plan anyway.

It’s also deeply rewarding when someone says they enjoyed my writing. Sure, there’s a bit of the old ego boost to think “Oh, they think it’s good!” but ultimately, the thought that my stories can give someone enjoyment in this crazy chaotic world is such a gift.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal through my author journey (aside from living my dream of writing fun romance stories for a living) is show my children and my students that you can do anything you set you mind to. The kiddos I teach know about my other job (though I don’t share my titles – that has to wait until they’re a bit older!), and they know that I give my all in my ‘day job’ too – they see it every day when I teach and direct my extra programs of choir and musical. My hope is that anyone (kiddos, students, even friends or coworkers) can see me putting in the work and investing in my dream and think “Well, if she can do it, maybe I can too.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katewinchwrites.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katewinchauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateWinchAuthor
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katewinchauthor
  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@katewinchauthor
  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51009780.Kate_Winch

Image Credits

Author Photo – Through the Looking Glass Artistic Imagery