about Jess Petrencsik

This is Jess. I am writing my own bio. I tried to write about my background and literary pedigree and why my words are worth reading and all that jazz, but it felt pretentious. Vain. Awkward. So instead, here is the stuff that I think of when I think of myself.

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Deep in my soul, I desire to add beauty to the world. Sometimes this manifests in my drive to create. I cannot go more than a few days without a creative endeavor before I feel like I am shriveling up inside. Really. It's visceral. But I also have a knack for finding beauty anywhere, and I see my role as a guide toward that beauty, especially when it arises in unexpected places, places such as our brokenness. This beauty in the broken is where healing happens, and I am a big fan of restoration.

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My mind is a busy place, and I spend a lot of time in it. I am constantly reflecting on what I experience, what I read in books or the news, and what I see in social spaces whether in person or online. I seek to understand what I observe, the context and nuance, and to pay attention to what is revealed about humanity and truth. This way of relating to the world is threaded through all that I write.

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I am a woman of faith. My well-wrangled connection to the God of the Bible is my why. It is the reason for my great regard for humanity, for my interest in Big Questions and meaning; it is foundational to my views on health and healing and wholeness. And it is why I am drawn to stories of redemption and restoration.

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This is who I am as a writer, which is where you encounter me. But I am also a wife, a mother of four children through open adoption, a daughter and sister, a teacher, a friend, a youth group mentor, and a business coach. I love the Eastern Sierras, particularly backpacking over scree covered passes and through grassy alpine meadows. And I love my dog.