Ellie Lerum describes her writing journey. Please check out the interview below:
KW – Thank you for joining us today. Could you tell us a little about yourself and your works?
EL – Hi, I’m Ellie Lerum; a Christian fantasy author exploring both the beauty of light and the grit of darkness through redemptive, emotionally deep storytelling. I’ve currently got the Tales of Illeross series published (Turning Point and Gracefully Broken) and I’m preparing for my gritty fantasy series, The Cassy Series, to release in October. In addition, I will be featured in Chronicles: Allies of Majesty Volume 1, and have a children’s book that was recently published as well.
KW – What inspired your writing journey?
EL – I began my writing journey in 2020 after losing my first pregnancy. There was a severe lack of people I knew who had undergone that experience and, though I know they meant well, those who spoke to me about my miscarriage offered words that weren’t exactly condolences. After that period in time, I decided that there were too many hurting voices that have no outlets; society shies away from things like miscarriage, trauma, mental health, and abuse as it makes people uncomfortable, and I wanted to see a change. With that, I pull a lot of my own personal experiences into the pages. Readers want to be able to relate to characters, and using my own experiences allows for my characters to become three-dimensional and real.
KW – Can you tell us about your writing process?
EL – When I begin writing, I often begin by simply deciding on who I’m going to write about. Many of my works start by throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks; in Turning Point, for example, I only knew that I would be writing about a character who is featured in a later book. Once I settle on the character, and get a general idea of who they are, I generally am able to craft a plot following their goals. Piece by piece, the story begins to emerge, and I refine it until it’s cohesive.
New books are very similar in that vein as my works tend to revolve around familiar characters. When working in Chronicles, a book that placed me into a new setting and headspace, I had to start with the message I was trying to send. In this example, I wanted to focus on what the spiritual side of miscarriage could be; what would happen if an angel witnessed two women mourning over the loss of a pregnancy? The idea is typically enough to get a start on, and I then move into characters and plot from there.
KW – Are there stories, situations, or people that inspire you?
EL – I’ve always been fascinated by the worldbuilding complexities that J.R.R. Tolkien demonstrates in the Lord of the Rings series. Deep-diving into lore is a passion of mine, and it’s only fueled by various tabletop roleplaying games such as Pathfinder, Tales from Elsewhere, and Ethereals. My daughters are all huge inspirations, too, especially as we navigate toddler years with my littles and adult problems with one of the girls I love as my own. I want them to know that it’s okay to mourn, it’s alright to grieve, and they’re never going to be alone when they go through life’s hardships. They are some of the reasons I’m able to stay inspired, as I know others can view my work and know that it’ll be alright, too. As a Christian author, I also hold tightly to God as my inspiration and truly believe that He is the only reason I can write. There are days where I can tell my motivation is completely gone but some time in prayer, or reading scripture, can help me realign my heart and mind.
KW – What are some common challenges you have experienced while writing?
EL – As a mom of two littles, time is perhaps my biggest challenge. I love motherhood, but it throws unexpected curveballs towards me as I raise my daughters. I’ve also got generalized anxiety, which I used heavily as inspiration for the monsters in The Cassy Series, that tends to make me feel inadequate. No one likes to feel like they are failures, and the mindset I tend to get stuck in while spiralling is an absolute nightmare. I’m also a self-published author, which means that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and had to learn over time.
With all of those challenges, my faith does get me through it. For individuals who might not believe as I do, I found that finding an accountability partner and group of hype men really do help remove the stress of feeling like I’ve failed. Lots of research has been done, many hours of crying with my husband, and even more time spent trying to learn all about marketing, publishing, and formatting. There are some great resources for individuals in that same headspace, whether they need help overcoming their thoughts or simply need a mentor.
KW – Have you noticed any changes in the writing industry since you began?
EL – Self-publishing has become far easier to do since I began writing, and with the sudden influx of AI, it’s become harder to find self-published authors who aren’t using generative technology. I’ll be one to say that AI can be a wonderful tool, but unfortunately, AI promises fast results that often result in impersonal, low-quality work. Vanity publishers are getting craftier and are offering people visibility, too, and not many people realize the danger that can pose to their work and pocketbooks. As for trends, there’s becoming a bigger demand for clean-reads; individuals are wanting to move away from open door romance scenes in many cases, which was incredibly popular (and still is). In addition, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the amount of readers wanting hard reads. They’re beginning to move away from whimsey and are wanting reads that offer space to look at the hard parts of life. For an author in this space, it’s been incredibly interesting to see a bigger market for something that was more or less unheard of five years ago.
KW – What words of advice would you give to any aspiring authors out there?
EL – Mark Twain is believed to have said to swallow the frog first, and I believe that’s the most important thing I could tell any other author or aspiring author. Find the hardest thing to do and get it done first; if it’s sitting down to write, plop into the chair. If it’s figuring out a character name, figure that out first. If you wait to do the hardest thing first, you may be waiting forever. There will never be a right time, but if you decide to make it the time, it becomes the right time.
KW – Do you have a favorite character you’ve written that still holds a warm spot in your heart?
EL – I adore writing Jean Cassy from The Cassy Series. She’s so incredibly real, so raw, and she’s not afraid to fight back despite all of the fear she feels. I really identify with her as a woman who’s gone through some rough patches, especially as she grieves the loss of a pregnancy. There aren’t many characters given the space to mourn, and she does it in a way that my children can recognize, and others have said helped them feel seen.
KW – What are some goals or upcoming projects you might be planning?
EL – Currently, I’m finishing the launch for The Cassy Series, which will be published in October and December of 2025. The following spring, I will be releasing a novella very dear to my heart called A Mother’s Prayer. My husband and I experienced six miscarriages amid having our two daughters, and, as I shared before, there are very few people in my social circles who have gone through that grief. A Mother’s Prayer, part of the Tales of Illerossseries, follows a woman through 8 years of miscarriages, infertility, and mourning as she learns to rest in God during a season of pain. I think it’s a beautiful way for me to work through my grief, and it’s a way to help others see that child loss and infertility is far more common than we’re willing to admit.
One of my big goals, too, is to get more progress on the film deal I was recently offered for Turning Point. Currently, we’re in the fund raising portion of production, but my coproducers are incredibly patient and are working with nations in Europe regarding options there.
