Lucy Grecu moved farther than anyone else to come to Cambridge, Ohio for our 2-year writing apprenticeship. Originally from Los Angeles, California, she traded the city life for a little town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Why make that trade? She was in pursuit of something greater than a change of pace; she wanted to become a professional writer who impacts the world for Christ.

She’ll graduate this August, and she’s a writer to keep your eye on as she continues to walk in faithfulness to God’s calling on her life.

Introduce yourself:

Hello! I’m Lucy. I was a nerdy theater kid for basically my entire childhood, and I fear it’s only gotten worse. I spend my time drawing fictional characters, watching shows from the early 2000s, and reading very slowly. Despite the rumors, I’m not Italian, though I do talk with my hands and eat a lot of pasta. If you get me talking about movies, I won’t physically be able to stop until you tape my mouth shut.

Where are you originally from?

I’m originally from Los Angeles, California–where the gas is so expensive that people in Ohio don’t believe me, and all the mailboxes are locked.

What genres do you write?

I typically write dystopian sci-fi, though I like to dabble in D&D-esque fantasy and supernatural.

Is there a core theme/message that inspires your writing?

I’m not sure! My last novel, and my current novel, both have themes along the line of “how do you ride the line between keeping the peace and standing up for what’s right.”

On a bigger scale, I feel called to write stories for teenage boys. I think they’re really treated horribly by our modern society, and told a lot of lies. I didn’t realize until I moved out here that I could address those lies with my writing, or that I could make stories and worlds that build men up rather than beating them down.

I’m sick of the toxic femininity that seems to have invaded the book world. Why do so many of us treat boys like they’re evil by default? That they have to renounce their masculinity in order to not hurt people? Crazy.

Tell us about one of the best stories you’ve written.

One of my favorite short stories I’ve written is “The Humminghouse,” which is a published on The Pearl. It’s a zombie apocalypse story, and one of the first non-fantasy stories I wrote (if I’m remembering correctly).

That was the first story I wrote that seemed “on brand,” if that makes sense. I was challenged to write a first-person POV from a guy’s perspective, and I realized how much fun that was. It felt important, like it was the start of something.

How did it include that theme?

In terms of themes, the main character (Roy) struggles a lot with his worth. He feels useless in this apocalypse, and very unmanly because he’s scared of dying. I admittedly wasn’t thinking too much about themes back when I wrote it (about a year ago, at this point), but it shows how men shouldn’t be shamed into bottling up their emotions, and how your worth isn’t defined by what you do.

It was actually the first short story I wrote for school where I was scrambling to meet the deadline, and I begged Brad, “PLEASE DON’T READ THIS.” Truly, the first draft was terrible. I told him that, but that I knew what needed to be changed, and he kindly gave me some extra time to get it sorted, and it all worked out haha.

What year of the program are you in?

Second year.

What can you do now that you couldn’t when you started the apprenticeship?

There was a lot I couldn’t do! But I’ll stick to the biggest thing: finishing what I started.

Before I got here, I couldn’t ever finish writing something long. I’d have a lot of ideas for novels, but then I’d jump in with no real plan, no outline, and burn out a third of the way through. Between middle school and high school, I’ve got about four half-finished novels (and “half-finished” is me being generous, haha). And I even struggled to finish short stories. It would take me a looooong time to write a story that I liked.

Now I’ve written two manuscripts–one novella and one novel–and a dozen or so short stories. I’m currently drafting my next novel-length work. I’ve had one of my short stories published in the Fantastical Summer anthology as well! Not only has my long-form writing improved, but my short-form writing is so much better than it used to be. And now it doesn’t take me years to get a short story “just right.”

If you had to eat 10 gallons of ice cream, what flavor would you pick? Why?

I’d pick spumoni. It’s three in one, so it’s just logic! When you get tired of the chocolate, switch to the cherry side. If you get tired of cherry, start digging into the pistachio. Done with pistachio? Go back to chocolate!

How do you think your new skills will impact your career?

I mean, you can’t be a published author if you never finish a project! I’m in a place where turning out a good short story in a small amount of time seems totally doable. I now know how to approach writing a novel-length work–a plan of attack, if you will! I’m the kind of person who likes to see the whole picture before she starts writing (which is funny, because I never used to outline anything I wrote). Studying the Novel Matrix, and working one-on-one with Brad, has given me the tools I need to tackle big projects, and to not get so hung up on “where to start.”

I know that in my career as a writer, it will be so important to not “stumble at the starting line,” if that makes sense. To have a clear (and reliable!) set of steps to follow is actually a lot more freeing than it sounds. There’s just enough wiggle room to keep your creativity flowing, and just enough structure to keep you on track.

What led you to apply?

The first time I heard about The Company was when it was still the School of Kingdom Writers!

I was in high school, and I was really into the Story Embers podcast (where they talked about writing and stuff). The podcast would have ad breaks where they’d talk about their sponsor. I’d usually skip them, because who listens to ads? Lame–get me to the content I came for!

But sometimes I’d listen, and over and over and over again was this ad from some guy named Brad Pauquette, talking about some writing school in somewheresville Ohio.

I ignored them. For a while.

But then, one day, it was like I heard the words for the first time. The stuff Brad was saying was actually finding its way into my brain. It was like the first time I got glasses, and realized that “Oh, you’re supposed to see the individual leaves on trees?! Since when!”

It hit me that this was a real school. In a real place. Teaching all the things that I’d dreamed of learning, with a mission statement nearly identical to mine. And the thought burrowed into my mind: “I could go to that after high school.”

I put it on my mom’s radar because she’s the best at researching anything. The Company (at that time, the SOKW) was still pretty new, so she wanted to see what it grew into (and I wasn’t done with school yet).

After I graduated, I took a gap year to get a job and save up some money. That turned into two years. It just didn’t feel like the right time to leave yet.

And I know that was God telling me to wait, because in those two years of my waiting, the school changed its name, sold its building, and moved to a different town.

After they settled somewhat into their new building, I got an exciting newsletter–and it’s honestly a miracle I read it at all, because I never read my newsletter emails. It was from The Company, talking about a Fall Retreat. I got so excited–I could go visit the schoolhouse! See the town! Meet the people!

I knew the retreat was at an inconvenient time for my parents, who had a bunch of church responsibilities around then (I don’t remember what exactly, but there was a lot of planning and set up for some event). AND my mom was getting over Covid. But I begged her to take me, if she was up for it, and she made it work, in her magical mom way.

I fell in love with the school immediately. I felt a total peace in the schoolhouse, and an instant connection with the current apprentices. I remember specifically thinking “These are my people.” I’d already known I wanted to go, but that visit just sealed the deal. I like to think of it as God going, “See? I told you so. Now do it!”

I applied pretty soon after that, if my memory serves me right. And in every step of the way, I see God’s footprints. Because there’s no way I would’ve committed on my own–or even discovered the place!

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Want to connect with Lucy?

Lucy writes weekly articles about finding wonder in the mundane. Join her email list at LucyGrecu.com to be part of the fun! You can also download her short story, Sunspot, for free: https://lucygrecu.com/sunspot-download/