Gretchen Elaine is
a girl rooted deep in a small farm town feeling.
From the bootheel of Missouri, a town whose majority population was all farmland and back roads, and now a Utah resident, due to her husband's ten year enlistment with the United States Air Force, where she currently lives while dreaming of traveling around the world, writing has always been her cathartic form of escape from the realities in life that were a little too hard to process in the moment.
Her extremely blunt and takes no-shit attitude, which matches her formally red, now reddish auburn hair,
is one of the many things that sets her apart from others.
It’s within this bluntness and stubborn ways, she’s always been determined to challenge societal norms and push boundaries.
Accepting no as a challenge instead of a finality.
Beyond the hair and fierce personality, it would shock many to find she’s actually quite reserved and soft spoken.
When asked, she states, “I like to observe the world around me. I’ve always been an observer in some way, more so after I began to listen to the judgment of those closest to me, meant to protect me, yet failed to do so, onto others. As a child I never really understood why a certain skin color made someone better or worse. Same with their cultural or religious beliefs. Ever since I began to pick up on these things, I began to watch the mingling of race, culture, etc. come together for the greater good. I like to always believe in the good in others and save judgment for the actions they take. Of course, I’m not perfect. I am human after all, but I try every day not to judge a book by the cover, but instead the good within or I believe could be within.”
When she’s not writing, she enjoys a good game of kickball—playing whenever life allows as it drives her secret competitive nature and is a form of her own therapy to escape her thoughts and focus on a game she truly loves. Plus, it’s the only way you will ever find her willingly partaking in any cardio. In addition to the elementary school game, she loves being outdoors. Going camping, hiking, and fishing—though you will NEVER catch her touching the bait or unhooking her catch, that’s her husband's duty and has been since they were fifteen. Escaping to the mountains brings her peace, and in her own words…
“It’s the only way to quiet the incessant loud thoughts of worry, sadness, even my depression and anxiety when they kick into overdrive. Nature is my best form of therapy and gives me a sense of normalcy and belonging. I first found peace with it during my brief time living in Michigan. There were these woods behind the house I lived in at the time. Whenever things became too much, they were my escape. From that point on, when I cannot escape to the solitude of the mountains here in Utah, I close my eyes and picture myself in those very woods. I picture myself in the first place.
I feel free and at home.”
Mental health is a strong passion of Gretchen’s, who herself struggled to cope with and face it head-on for nearly fifteen years. Afraid of what others might say or think because of the stigmas attached to having a mental health illness. Today, though, she embraces all of her quirks that tag along for the ride when it comes to her own diagnosis, which she doesn’t shy away from and will willingly share with anyone who feels alone and as if no one understands, and constantly encourages others to not only seek help but embrace their quirks too.
If you were to ask those in her tight-knit circle to describe in five words or less, it would be a tough exterior, like many of her characters you will find throughout her work, but also kind, a total smart-alec when the opportunity permits, and lastly loyal. Even if that means totally embarrassing herself for the sake of saving someone else's embarrassment.
If you want to keep up with Gretchen and all of smartass quirky happenings, as well as what’s coming next, head on over to her Instagram and TikTok @the.gretchen.elaine, where she routinely engages with readers through live and Q&A’s. You can even find her on Goodreads, though she is more active on her other platforms as she knows her curiosity would get the best of her when it comes to a strictly review-based platform, and reviews are most definitely meant for the readers, not this author.
If you would like to get ahold of Gretchen Elaine directly, you can do so via email at gretchenelaineauthor@gmail.com.
She simply asks if it is regarding feedback and to be constructive yet kind.
Authors are humans with feelings too 😁.