Pouring yourself into characters and plots is a great escape for many authors. For Delaney Kraemer, 14, it’s also a respite to the daily challenges of living with epilepsy.
The Macomb County teen is the author of two youth fiction books with a third to be released soon. She started writing her first, “The First German Shepherd Who Howled at the Moon,” at just 9 years old.
When frequent seizures leave her feeling down, she says, “It is nice to write and transport into my characters’ own little worlds.”
Delaney, who also has a visual impairment and dyscalculia, or difficulty with numbers, struggles to organize her thoughts and finds that writing is an ideal way to express herself.
“When I speak, I can’t erase my mistakes,” she explains. “But with writing, I have time to think about what I want to say or what I want my characters to do. I can always delete something that is wrong.”
Her books focus on a brother and sister, their German shepherd and the adventures that ensue after the siblings find a magic wolf tooth during a camping trip.
Delaney says she enjoys creating characters, developing their personalities and imagining what they might do and say. “I can indulge in their feelings and their thoughts.”
Delaney’s mother, Jean Kraemer, couldn’t be prouder of her daughter.
“I’m incredibly grateful that Delaney is able to write, as many other skills that most of us take for granted are challenging for her. She loves writing,” she says. “I’m excited to see what she comes up with next.”
Expect to see more books from Delaney in the future. “I definitely want to continue writing and maybe even attend creative writing classes to improve my writing.”
You can find Delaney’s books, “The First German Shepherd Who Howled at the Moon” (2016), “The Second German Shepherd Who Howled at the Moon” (2018) and “The Third German Shepherd Who Howled at the Moon” (coming soon) on Amazon for around $5.99.
