It’s the first Wednesday of 2025, which must mean it’s Insecure Writer’s day. It’s our day to support, encourage, and uplift each other. If you’re interested in joining but haven’t taken the leap yet, the link to sign up is here. If you’re more social media inclined, our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

As always we have generous co-hosts donating their time to keep us all on track. This month our co-hosts are  Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles! Give them a look and a comment, to say thank you.

And our question this month is describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?

The new year is a time for beginnings and fresh starts, so we will NOT be taking this question with a past view and dragging ourselves through some sort of childhood nostalgia trauma mix. Instead, I will describe to you someone I admired as a child, who turned out to be someone worthy of that admiration.

When, as an impressionable pre-teen, I read something like;

“Is It Frightening To Be Free?”

“You said it.”

“You Say To People ‘Throw Off Your Chains’ And They Make New Chains For Themselves?”

“Seems to be a major human activity, yes.” ― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

I thought to myself that here was someone whose worldview I could really get behind. One of the best parts of any Terry Pratchett is his characterization, and this is because he is incredible at describing humans and human behavior. Just a fantastic writer, with a brilliant command of world-building, authentic dialogue, and richly layered plot and story. His humor is, of course, also top tier.

“Vimes took the view that life was so full of things happening erratically in all directions, that the chance of any of them making some kind of relevant sense were remote in the extreme.”
― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

The more I learned about Terry Pratchett, the more I found to admire. He was an incredibly curious person, who seemed to love collecting knowledge just for the sake of knowing. An avid video game player, a computer enthusiast who was also a bit of a Luddite, a grower of carnivorous plants with his own greenhouse, an atheist. There are many facets to discover about Sir Terry.

“And, while it was regarded as pretty good evidence of criminality to be
living in a slum, for some reason owning a whole street of them merely got
you invited to the very best social occasions.”
― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

I would say that my opinion of him changed as I grew up, in that it improved. The more books of his I read, and the more I learned about him, the greater my admiration. When he received a knighthood for “services to literature” in 2009, he learned blacksmithing and created his own sword out of iron ore he’d found in the fields near his home, because a knight should have a sword. Who couldn’t love that little tidbit of information? If you haven’t read any Terry Pratchett yet, I don’t know what you’re waiting for.

“Men said things like “peace in our time” or “an empire that will last a thousand years,” and less than half a lifetime later no one even remembered who they were, let alone what they had said or where the mob had buried their ashes.”
― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay