[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Someday you will be old enough
Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again
CS Lewis
I have always read fairytales.
I have gone into the woods. I have confronted giants in the sky, danced with witches, and eaten magic beans. I have tried on glass slipper, after glass slipper, after glass slipper of jobs, cities, and relationships seeking connection, meaning, and love. I have sought happily ever after as purpose, mission, and heart. Reading fairytales has been part of my falling apart and back together.
Ultimately, reading fairytales is about hope — feeling safe, held, and loved enough to hope. Hope does not have to be solely the province of youth. lost when wisdom is gained. Hope can be understanding’s slow burn that allows us to go into the woods, confront giants, dance with witches, eat magic beans, try on glass slippers, and seek happily ever after. Hope can be the light in our eyes that allows us to see what is before us with discernment, compassion, and clarity. Hope can be the courage to face challenges, create from the space of vulnerability and love, and believe that healing and being whole are possible.
I will always read fairytales.
About Katie
Born in Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
