Storytellers on a Lunar Mission:

Star Date: February 16, 2021.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of going up into space … to explore the heavens would be a marvellous adventure. Survival, exploration, and adventure are common themes in a lot of the work that I read (and write), regardless of the genre. Whether it be exploring the moon or the backyard … there are adventures to be had. But to go up into space … that is the adventure most out of my reach. I voice the character of Lt. Emily Davis in a Star Trek fan production, Endless Vigilance; and I thought that would be the closest I would ever come to exploring space. So, when Susan posted her plan to send writers (digitally) up to the moon, I just had to sign up. 

When I was accepted to join Writers on the Moon my head was buzzing. Beside the excitement of having a presence up in space, I was buzzing with the possibilities of leaving behind a snapshot … a snapshot of me, of my life, and a snapshot of life in 2021. The chance to hold the pen and the camera and declare who I am, is something I’ve been striving to do for the past few years. A chance to tell future generations who I am is a huge opportunity. So many things we know of writers, or indeed anyone, is second-hand information or worse. But what to include?

While the project is Writers on the Moon, we had the freedom to use our allotted space as we saw fit – with just a few stipulations. I could leave samples of my writing, and my art, perhaps some poetry readings, and photography … the possibilities were endless. But then I realized that if I chose certain works that I’d be published in, then I could bring those people along to … they could leave their mark as well. Unfortunately, that plan went down the tube and at the almost last minute I invited some people to share my space. I’m fortunate enough to be part of a large creative community and so the options of who I could invite were overwhelming.

In the end I selected a rag-tag group of people to share my payload … all connected to me in some way: family, my mentor, friends, peers, colleagues etc. I had a couple of people decline as they couldn’t meet the deadline (what with it being last minute and all), but most people jumped on board (pun intended). And that’s when the fun began. I had to tap into the Time Lord science and stretch my space as far as it could go. Now with more time I probably could have stretched it further, but I think we have a nice selection – from poetry and music, to cookbooks, comics, and art.

One of the things that I really loved was last year I heard a recording of Tolkien read some of his work … as a fan that was wonderful. That memory prompted me to include one of the recordings that I have on hand of me reading one of my poems. As a student of history (it is one of my majors) I’m always fascinated with the mundane side of things – for while all the major events are happening, life carries on as normal. I’m the person that has a camera attached to them practically all the time … so I have a lot of snapshots of my life; showing the big moments, the small moments, and those magically mundane moments. I couldn’t fit those in, but I did select some photos, which I have included in the Scrapbook section.

At the time of writing this I am 47 years old. I’m an author but that is just one facet of what makes me who I am today. I’m a daughter, a mum of four, a “mum” to Diesel (my beloved pooch), a friend … and I’m also a storyteller, an entertainer, a creative jack-of-all-trades.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. When I’m not writing I can be found packing as much into life as possible, often with my children by my side (when distance and circumstances allow). My hobbies and interests are many; including cosplay, gardening, macro-photography, reading, digital art, and cooking.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, where I majored in both English and History. I returned to my studies after the birth of my first child, but life presented me with too many challenges, so I took an extended break from all-things academia. But it is my intention to return to University and continue working towards a PhD – where I plan to look at the importance of storytelling to humans.

To say that life has been challenging for me (and subsequently for my children) is an understatement, and I have almost lost my battle against my own personal demons on more than one occasion. That I’m still here, writing this, and taking part in such an exciting project surprises me. Writing, creating, storytelling – it’s always been a big part of who I am. I was the child that had huge dreams – actor, singer, dancer, artist – for me ambition was not a dirty word, and I was determined to find a way to do it all. 

And life has a funny way of making that happen; even if it’s not apparent at first glance.  While I’m not successful by any means I have slowly found myself doing the things that I wanted to: 

• I have a storytelling podcast – The StoryWeaver– a step towards my own storytelling web show.
• I’m a voice actor, and I have a recurring role in Endless Vigilance (A Star Trek Fan Radio Drama). 

• I’m an editor. Ever since I could remember people have asked me to look over the essays and writing and that’s grown to be so much more. I have edited comics, short stories, books, a film script, and many essays – and now people pay me to do so.

• I’m an author; I had pieces published throughout my school years, and in the last several years I’ve had several things published in international anthologies, comics, and more. Since 2017 I have broken though my years long writer’s block and have written more in that time than the decades before. On the poetry front alone, I have completed approx. 340 poems in that time, and while the poetry book that has been a dream for 25+ years isn’t completed yet, I have released several poetry zines. I don’t have a huge fan base yet, but I have regular fans and supporters that appreciate and enjoy my writing. The one piece of feedback that I receive regularly is that I say the words that others wish that they could. 

I may have taken the long scenic route and following my dreams doesn’t look at all like I thought it would at 9 years of age, but I still find myself pinching myself at times because I am doing what I set out to do. I’m not a household name. I can’t support my family with my creative endeavors, but I am doing it … and who knows what the next decade or so will look like. I have a lot more that I want to do in the coming years of my life; maybe a future interstellar time capsule will have an update on my story. To see more of what I do here’s a link to some of my projects and adventures:  https://linktr.ee/essentialbron.

And that’s why I’m glad that Susan was very welcoming to authors of all levels. There were basic requirements to be considered and I met those. So, while I may not have the pedigree of other authors, perhaps I’m not entirely out of place in this wonderful group. 

Thank you to Susan for this opportunity. The amount of work involved in just coordinating people on my end was frustrating – and I cannot imagine how you and Noelle are coordinating this for 125 people. But I’m so happy to be a part of Writers on the Moon.

Live long and prosper,

Bron Rauk-Mitchell