Behind the Letters  

Behind the Letters is a tribute to those who live and breathe words.

 

Behind the letters May - Birdy Grossen Hylleberg

Birdy was born in 1957, is married, has three sons and four grandchildren. She is a pedagogue, a trained psychotherapist, a former owner of her own psychotherapy institute—and an author.

 

                   

 

'It Is So Beautiful to Begin' is the title of the literary manuscript Birdy has recently submitted to a publisher. It is her first fiction project.

When we meet online, I tell her that I love the title—I love beginnings, and the title feels so beautiful to say out loud.

Birdy has previously written a fair amount of professional material, which she used internally for teaching at her institute. She has also published a short story, "An Ungrateful Wretch”, which was printed in *Q Magazine* under the name Agnes Grosen in the early 2000s.

                             "It was amazing to see it in print, but I didn’t dare send it out in my own name,
                             so I used my grandmother’s name. We both had Grosen as a surname, so it didn’t
                             really matter—but that’s just how it was. Still, it was wonderful to see it in a magazine.”

“Yes,” I reply, “there is something special about the joy of being read by others.”

                              “Yes, that feeling that someone is sitting there reading this right now—
                              and I’m sitting here reading it in the magazine as well,” she says with a smile.

Birdy certainly isn’t idle, I can tell you that.

                            "After “It Is So Beautiful to Begin”, I wrote a small-town romance draft,
                            'Katz Hill', which after the first revision is 52,148 words. It is currently with
                             beta readers. I’ve also begun writing a sequel, now at 18,523 words, and
                             I’ve plotted a third book. I’ve also outlined a historical novel, of which
                             I’ve written approximately 23,000 words so far."

She writes a couple of hours every single day. She cannot sit longer at a time due to problems with her hip. And since she cannot easily go out for the same reason, she has created writing sprints on Facebook three times a week for a group of people who want to write.

                             “I’ve done that because I’m physically limited—I’ve had hip surgery.
                              The first hip was almost three years ago, and the second about a year
                              and a half ago. But when I had the second operation, something went
                              wrong with the first one. So I can’t really walk. I’m in pain—but it’s a different
                              kind of pain than before, and I’m grateful that the old pain is gone.
                             
Birdy tells me tahet The physiotherapist says it will require training. She says she  will walk again—but it will take a long time. Years, in fact. So she has equipped herself with a wheelchair.

                              “It was a day of grief when it entered the house. It really felt like—bang—
                                you can’t walk. But my grandchild, who lives nearby, jumped up and down
                               in the chair, and she shifted my perspective.”

Fortunately, Birdy can still drive, as her car has automatic transmission, so she can get around a bit.

                               “I know what it feels like to have a body that works well. I used to be
                                a competitive swimmer. At one point, I was one of the best backstroke
                                swimmers in AGF.”

 I ask her when she did start her writing?

                              “As a child—I must have been around eight or nine. I wrote verses,
                               little poem-like things. I always had the urge to write, and then I signed
                               up for a correspondence course. But it became too close, because the
                               teacher knew my grandmother, so I withdrew. After that, I just wrote for
                               myself—poems or just writing things out. What do you call it again?”

Free writing, flow writing, or creative writing, I reply. Yes, it really has something special.

Birdy shares that she was very close to her grandmother. She describes herself as a pattern breaker and says she grew up in a troubled family where she was treated very badly. She left home at fifteen because she didn’t want to endure more violence.

I ask where she finds her inspiration for writing, and she answers:

                                “I read a lot, participate actively in ‘The Writing Journey,’ do writing exercises
                                via ‘The Writing School’ on Facebook, and attend talks from the Danish Authors’ Association.
                                I’m also an active member of Pernille Redder’s ‘Writers Clubhouse.’”

Birdy reads widely—authors such as Tove Ditlevsen, Jane Aamund, Hanne Vibeke Holst, Martin Andersen Nexø, Pernille Redder, Ib Michael, Lene Dybdahl, J. R. R. Tolkien, Johannes Mario Simmel, Annemarie Selinko, Dan Brown, Marge Piercy, and Ildefonso Falcones.

We talk about how she is glad she bought my e-book *“Write LIFE into Life – why & how”* and joined the writing community in the private Facebook group *Life Awareness* for readers of the book.

                                “The content is really good. It reminds me of the woman in the blue coat
                                  in the Old Town—she left a mark on my life because she comforted me
                                  when I fell. You would go into her little shed under the slide and get a bandage.
                                  In the same way, what you have shared leaves a mark. I may not have done
                                  the exercises yet, but I’ve read them—and some of them have truly stayed with me.
                                  They create reflection and settle inside me. So I want to say thank you.”

I feel deeply moved and happy hearing this, as I am currently translating the book into English. I’m doing this because I’m part of TheSilver.dk, where many people want to use the book to start writing, but don’t speak Danish.

We agree that the most important thing is that what we do is enjoyable.

                                 I ask Birdy  “How do you find the time to write so much?”

                                  “During COVID, I closed down my institute. I didn’t have the energy
                                   to build it up again. We had been shut down, like boarding schools.
                                   Then I thought—suddenly I have all this time. And that’s why I write.
                                   It’s now been a year since I finished my first manuscript. I’ve received
                                   five rejections so far,without comments. Right now, it’s with Modtryk.
                                   Fortunately, I’ve reached retirement age, so I receive a small monthly income.”
                                   It has really pushed my boundaries to enter this world—the very world
                                   I had once rejected. My mother read romance magazines and romance novels,
                                   so I told myself I wouldn’t go into that kind of genre… and yet here I am.
                                   And now I can sit down and write whenever I find the time.”

You can find Birdy on social media:

Newsletter
Her Facebook group with writing sprints (4 x 25 minutes, 2–3 times weekly)
Email / Website / Social media: birdygrosen.dk

How do I know Birdy?

She bought my e-book, joined the Life Awareness Facebook group—and then things just took off from there.

 

Every month in *“Behind the Letters”*, I have a conversation with someone who writes. It can be a writing enthusiast, an aspiring author, or a published writer.

In *“Behind the Letters”*, you gain insight into the thoughts of different passionate writers, learn about their passion, projects, and creative process in the world of writing, and get a taste of some of what they have written.