Conversations with Mary Rose Kreger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Rose Kreger

Hi Mary Rose, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Mary Rose Kreger, and I am a young adult fantasy author, Legend Fiction mentor, and creative nonfiction blogger. I am also happily married and a mom of three little ones.

My debut YA fantasy novel, AVALON LOST, was a top new release on Amazon in February 2024, and a finalist in the 2024 Legend Awards. With humility, I can tell you that AVALON LOST is a very good book, and this is why: it took me more than twenty years to develop, write, edit, and publish it.

I am a big advocate for the idea that good writing takes time — months, years, decades — to reach “perfection”. Think of AVALON LOST as a glass of fine wine – the taste only gets better with time.

As is the case for most writers, my book was rejected multiple times over the years. I used those rejections as motivation to write a stronger story with more realistic, compelling characters. I met other writers like me, and we helped each other improve our craft and create better stories. Gradually I learned how to keep writing, keep “shipping”, even with a newborn in the house, and later with a toddler and newborn in 2020, and today with three small children, including a child with special needs.

Truly my writing has become a labor of love–something that brings joy to myself and to others. This joy flows over into my family life, while my family life also informs my writing. For women wondering if they have to choose between a family or a career: I can say with confidence that it is possible to do both. My husband and children fill my days with new life, adventure, and possibilities. They also make my house messy, noisy, and more than a little wild!

This is perfect; this is beautiful. I keep loving and caring for my family. But I also keep writing.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
During my journey to publication, self-doubt was one of my greatest struggles.

I first started writing the story that became Avalon Lost when I was fourteen years old, as a way to deal with the stress and pressures of my life at that time. Unlike the many other stories I had written as a child, this story stayed with me. I never tired of writing it, and I never grew bored of my main characters, Will Owain and Philia Pendragon.

For a long time, however, I kept my story hidden from almost everyone. Avalon Lost revealed the secret parts of me, parts that were otherwise invisible even from my own family and friends. I was terrified to share my writing and be judged by it. Unlike the other stories, articles, and essays that I had written, my Avalon story revealed my heart.

Also, as a young woman in my twenties, I believed I had to put aside such “childish” pursuits and focus on finding and keeping a “real job”. I did love my book, but I also had to pay the rent and put food on the table, which was more important. Right?

To make a long story short: although I loved my Avalon story deeply, I constantly kept running from it. I feared that I loved it too much, and that I would make an idol out of it.

It took me a very long time to embrace my novel writing as a personal calling. As a faithful Catholic, I identify this calling as coming from God, the greatest Artist and Author of all. During these past few years, I have finally accepted that God wants me to write and share my stories, especially Avalon Lost, as both my passion and as a career.

There’s not much money in it, but there is a great deal of meaning in it. Whenever I start to doubt myself again, I remember that meaning. I remember the joy and enthusiasm of my teen readers; their youthful excitement and how they make the world of Avalon their own. I remember how writing and publishing my stories acts like a spark, inspiring other creatives and writers to share their own stories. Lastly, I remember the peace and satisfaction I feel when I craft a good scene, write a strong line, or reveal a hidden truth in fantasy form.

There are things that are best explained in the medium of a story. I have the immense honor and privilege of being a storyteller.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I write emotionally resonating fantasy stories featuring adventure and romance, healing and hope. In the past, I have also written creative nonfiction about the 19 months I spent in a convent, and the tremendous healing I experienced there, through the help of the sisters.

My current work in progress is the sequel to Avalon Lost, titled “The Green Blade”.

This book matters to me because The Green Blade is both the heart and the hinge of my Avalon trilogy. The greatest growth for my two main characters, Will and Philia, occurs in this book, and also the story’s central event.

Another reason this story is so important to me is because it deals with trauma and healing. The Green Blade presents my YA audience with fantasy versions of common mental illnesses, as well as how to cope with them. Depression, anxiety, childhood trauma, and PTSD are all experienced by the story’s characters, although usually by other names. The main characters never have to go through these internal struggles on their own – there is always a friend, parent, or mentor to help them on their journey.

And each of these illnesses is combated with a loving, life-giving alternative. Dark themes, hopeful answers.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Persistence.

The best writing advice I’ve ever received came from the leader of my local writer’s workshop: “Keep writing, Mary!”

You can’t get better at writing if you don’t keep doing it. You can’t get better at telling stories if you don’t write down your mediocre attempts first. For me at least, the secret to good writing has been to write, re-write, edit, then re-write again.

Having a talent for writing isn’t enough. You need diligence, perseverance, and a solid work ethic to craft beautiful stories.

I am busy putting in my 10,000 hours of writing now, so that one day I will become an epic writing master!

Pricing:

• AVALON LOST E-book: $4.99
• AVALON LOST Paperback: $15.99
• AVALON LOST Audiobook (Coming in February 2025): Est. $9.99

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maryrosekreger.substack.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heart_and_sword_fantasy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.moses.180/
• Other: https://maryrosekreger.com/

Image Credits
AVALON LOST Cover Design by Benita Thompson. Avalon story illustrations by Mary Rose Kreger.