We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Merritt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kendra, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have always had stories in my head, voices that won’t quiet unless I write down what they have to say. But for a long time, they were just other people’s stories that I got to be a part of for a little while. It wasn’t until a scoliosis surgery went badly that I found my own voice. I went into the operating room with a crooked spine and came out with partial paraplegia. I could wiggle the toes on my right foot and that was it. While I was recovering and learning how to walk again I realized that none of the fantasy heroes in my books looked or moved like me. And I desperately needed some. I needed to see myself represented in an adventure where someone like me saved the day, even if they couldn’t run or jump or swing a sword. So I set out to write stories for myself. Fairytales with main characters with disabilities. Science fiction with amputees. Epic fantasy with a crooked heroine with chronic pain. And along the way I found out that I wasn’t writing just for me. That there are so many people out there who feel somehow less. We all secretly wonder if we could be the hero. And I wanted to tell the stories that prove we can.

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.

I am an author and avid reader who writes fun and adventurous fantasy and science fiction. Most of my books feature disabled or queer characters though the stories are as varied as the characters themselves. I write young adult fairytales with lots of magic and a little bit of romance, comedic fantasy, survival science fiction, and epic fantasy. It’s a varied list but you can always expect fun and funny adventures with a lot of heart.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love meeting readers. Both old and new. Because I write about disabilities and other marginalized identities, I constantly get to talk about the stories that are most important to me. But also, I’ve learned that everyone wants to see themself as the hero. When I tell people about my retelling of Robin Hood where Maid Marion kicks butt from a wheelchair or the one where a cadet cop with OCD has to catch a serial killer, their next question is almost always, “do you have one with…” Because something in each of us longs to be seen and understood. My favorite part of my job is giving people the chance to see themselves as the hero. I have a mental illness representation, and chronic pain and a character in a wheelchair and so many more. But so many readers have asked for an autistic character. And for a long time I was afraid to try it. I knew it would be challenging, and as a neurodivergent writer I really wanted to get it right. Finally I’ve taken the time to write the book I’ve been planning for years. Unmasked is a retelling of the Prince and the Pauper and it comes out February 12th and I can’t wait talk to new people and say “yes, I have that book. It’s right here.”

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

It’s not so much something I had to unlearn as something I have to relearn over and over every year or so. I have a backlog of stories I want to tell. But it takes me way longer to write them than it does to think them up and obsess over them. So I tend to feel like I’m always behind. I try to write faster and faster, get more books done so I can get to the next one that’s so exciting in my head. And every time I have to remember that I was a dreamer before I was ever a writer. I’m a hard core planner with pages and pages of notes and outlines before I ever get to the actual writing part. And every now and then I forget that and try to skip straight to the writing. Because surely that will go well. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. If I try to rush a book, it sticks. It gets hard and I hate the process and it takes ten times longer. Ironically. So at least once a year I have to remind myself to slow down and give myself permission to dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kendramerritt.com/
• Instagram: @kendramerrittauthor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kendramerrittauthor
• Other: TikTok: @kendramerrittauthor