Raina Shepard's Blog
November 20, 2025
The Stories That Heal Us
“The Stories We Write, The Stories That Heal Us”
I’ve always believed that stories are more than words on a page. They’re places we go to feel something, understand something, or remember something we’ve forgotten about ourselves. Some stories comfort us. Some challenge us. Some reveal pieces of truth we didn’t know we were ready for. And if we’re lucky, a story finds us at the moment we need it most.
For me, writing started as a way to survive.
Not to impress. Not to publish.
Just to breathe.
Every chapter I’ve ever written — whether it’s about codependency, healing, faith, grief, or a little elephant learning her feelings — began as a whisper inside my own heart. A reminder that the world can break us, but it also has a beautiful way of piecing us back together if we let it.
People sometimes ask me why I write in so many genres: adult healing, trauma recovery, faith-centered books, teens navigating the fallout of this world, and children learning their emotions through Ellie the Elephant. My answer is always the same:
Because healing doesn’t belong to one age group.
Because every season of life needs a different kind of story.
And because no one should walk through their hard places alone.
I write for the woman who’s trying to unlearn the trauma she grew up with.
For the teen fighting battles no one sees.
For the child who doesn’t yet have the words to name their feelings.
For the person who’s lost so much they’re not sure where to begin again.
And I write for myself — to remember that pain doesn’t have the final word.
If you’ve ever found yourself inside the pages of one of my books, whether it made you cry, breathe deeper, see yourself differently, or whisper, “I needed this” — please know something:
You are the reason I write.
You are the reason the pages keep coming.
And your story matters more than you know.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for turning pages with me.
Thank you for letting my books be part of your journey.
If you’re here on Goodreads, feel free to follow, message, or connect — I love hearing from readers. We never heal in isolation, and every one of us has something beautiful to say.
Until the next story finds its way from my heart to yours,
— Raina D. Shepard
I’ve always believed that stories are more than words on a page. They’re places we go to feel something, understand something, or remember something we’ve forgotten about ourselves. Some stories comfort us. Some challenge us. Some reveal pieces of truth we didn’t know we were ready for. And if we’re lucky, a story finds us at the moment we need it most.
For me, writing started as a way to survive.
Not to impress. Not to publish.
Just to breathe.
Every chapter I’ve ever written — whether it’s about codependency, healing, faith, grief, or a little elephant learning her feelings — began as a whisper inside my own heart. A reminder that the world can break us, but it also has a beautiful way of piecing us back together if we let it.
People sometimes ask me why I write in so many genres: adult healing, trauma recovery, faith-centered books, teens navigating the fallout of this world, and children learning their emotions through Ellie the Elephant. My answer is always the same:
Because healing doesn’t belong to one age group.
Because every season of life needs a different kind of story.
And because no one should walk through their hard places alone.
I write for the woman who’s trying to unlearn the trauma she grew up with.
For the teen fighting battles no one sees.
For the child who doesn’t yet have the words to name their feelings.
For the person who’s lost so much they’re not sure where to begin again.
And I write for myself — to remember that pain doesn’t have the final word.
If you’ve ever found yourself inside the pages of one of my books, whether it made you cry, breathe deeper, see yourself differently, or whisper, “I needed this” — please know something:
You are the reason I write.
You are the reason the pages keep coming.
And your story matters more than you know.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for turning pages with me.
Thank you for letting my books be part of your journey.
If you’re here on Goodreads, feel free to follow, message, or connect — I love hearing from readers. We never heal in isolation, and every one of us has something beautiful to say.
Until the next story finds its way from my heart to yours,
— Raina D. Shepard
