Meryl Stenhouse

My writing philosophy is that stories have power. The power to move us, the power to make us think, the power to change people’s perspective. They hold up a mirror to our lives, and sometimes the reflection is identical, and sometimes startlingly different.

I love stories about women. Strong women, courageous women, shy women, frightened women, women with their own agency, their own destinies. A woman is not an accessory to someone else’s story. A woman is the centre of her own world. My stories delve into the challenges of life, into courage without violence, into strength without muscle.

I believe that everyone is creative. That we all carry that spark that elevates our work from what is necessary, to art. But it’s not always clear where your creativity lies, and I think so many people give up before they find what speaks to them.

I daydream. All the time. About people, about places and events, about grand ideas and what it means to be human. I try to make these ideas come alive on the page. Sometimes I am even successful.