The Wonder of Creativity

Believe and you will achieve

I believe creativity is something a select few are born with. It cannot be taught, but it can be nurtured. When I was very young, I loved to draw and paint, inspired by the world around me…I painted a beach scene that graced my bedroom wall until I went off to college.

In the second grade, I won the Fire Prevention Poster Content at my school; my reward included a write-up in a local paper, The Observer, and an awards ceremony at the local fire station, competing with Dunkin’ Doughnuts and fruit punch. After that I was addicted to the positive attention my artistic pursuits brought me. Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing!

I always loved music. When I was four years old, my parents bought me a Recorder. I walked around everywhere playing it, liked the Pied Piper of Hamelin…At the age of seven, I moved on to the Flute because my Mother loved James Galway. I got quite good but switched to Alto Saxophone in junior high; I won several competitions, but my senior year of high school, a much more talented player stole my thunder; I learned a few valuable lessons: Don’t get too comfortable; there’s someone out there who’s better than you and there’s no telling when they’ll pull the rug right out from under you.

I started writing fiction my junior year of high school, encouraged by my creative writing teacher, Mrs. Colins, who recognized my burgeoning talent. I studied English/Writing at Ithaca College in gorgeous Upstate New York. Several of my short stories were published in the school paper and then a local area publication, 14850 Magazine. Shortly after college, I had a few stories published in print ‘zines that only paid in contributor’s copies; that novelty wore off quickly, and I held out for paying markets. At first, I received personal rejections from editors, which I found encouraging. My perseverance paid off; I’ve sold over 100 short stories, three short collections, and a poetry chapbook: Apple of My Eye (Two Backed Books, 2006), Blanket of White (Damnation Books, 2009), Rage and Redemption in Alphabet City (New Pulp Press, 2015), and A Shadow of Your Former Self (Alien Buddha Press, 2023).

Amy Grech ©2024. All rights reserved.