Mary Berelson

Whenever I told people that I’d hitchhiked across America—from the dusty roads of Texas to the rolling hills of Ohio—at just thirteen years old, their eyes would widen and they’d say, “You have to write a book!” I always laughed, brushing it off as if that kind of dream belonged to someone else. Writing a book seemed like something other people did—people with time, training, or some mysterious permission I didn’t think I had.

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I didn’t think of myself as a writer. But now, after a few years on this writing journey, I can’t imagine not writing. Reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was a turning point. I saw so many parallels to my own story that I began working on a memoir. But with the guidance of my writing coach, Kat Terney, I soon realized that fiction offered the freedom I needed to explore the deeper themes of my experience. Inspired by authors like Barbara Kingsolver, Jodi Picoult, and Sue Monk Kidd, I leaned into the creative process and let the story evolve.
 

When the pandemic lockdown hit, I finally had the time and solitude to nurture that long-held seed of an idea. I set a goal to finish my first draft before retiring in 2023—and I did. Afterward, I partnered with Bublish for developmental editing and publishing support to help bring the manuscript to life. Balancing writing with everything else wasn’t always easy. When I was fully immersed in the story, I couldn’t even read other books—it was all-consuming.

My writing space wasn’t glamorous: often a laptop perched on a little TV tray in the living room, with the woodstove crackling nearby. I recorded voice notes on my iPhone and used Microsoft Word’s read-aloud feature to catch mistakes my eyes missed. Writing Bicentennial Summer taught me the value of perseverance and the quiet magic of letting a story unfold at its own pace.
 

Now, I’m excited to keep writing and see where the next chapter—on the page and in life—leads me.