Bonnie Wellensiek

writer, designer, daydreamer

I've always understood things through stories.

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When greeted with a new concept or grappling with an old, stubborn one, I find myself weaving little word pictures. "Ah, I see ... it's just like when ..."  

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I've also been haunted, from a very young age, by the persistent sense that there was One Great Truth, just beyond the veil – one Explanation for everything, from the cosmos to crickets, that once grasped, would make me say, "Aha ... now I see. Now I really see!" 

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In the pursuit of that great Explanation, I began writing long before I could write, telling stories to anyone who would listen and dictating little essays and poems to my grandmother, who typed them all out on her old, black typewriter. Not much has changed, except that now I have to type for myself. 

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I eventually discovered that the great Reason for Everything is, in fact, a person ... and that He, too, is a weaver of stories! I learned this when He stepped into the page and introduced Himself as my author. 

 

Now, having finally found what I'd always been looking for, it wasn't long before I tried to run away. Imagine a character fleeing through the pages from the Author who thought her up! Happily for me, He pursued me with gentle intransigence and ran me to ground. 

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You might think that meeting the great Explanation to Everything would mean I would stop creating word-pictures to understand reality. But the joyful truth is just the opposite. As a finite creature in the face of an infinite God, there will always be infinitely more to learn. And so I keep on weaving. 

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I especially love the form of allegory because of its vibrant, ancient roots, and because it fundamentally reflects the way I think. Allegory is simply taking something great and often intangible, and substituting for it something smaller and more visible in a fiction that helps us understand some aspect of the real.

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I've created this site as a place to share some of my little allegories and stories with others who, like me, think in word pictures. 

 

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More Ordinary (boring) Biography

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I'm a native of Colorado Springs and hold a BA in French Literature from Colorado College. Since then, I’ve supplemented my degree with thirty years of sundry writing experience during my career in bookstore management and serving various non-profit organizations. I added graphic design to my communications palette in 1999. I have studied with the Christian Writers Guild, and am a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).  

 

Some of my best education came through twelve years as a caregiver for my wonderful mom.  My dear husband's story in this world ended in 1994 (far too soon from my point of view) and I am sure that he is now daily learning more than I can imagine about our Author. I'm also blessed with a brother who has always been my great encourager, provider, proofreader, and sounding-board.  

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In December 2013 I left my job as full-time graphic designer and script-writer at a large church to accept a two-year Communications Fellowship with International Justice Mission (IJM) in South Asia and West Africa. There I had the privilege of helping communicate the realities of modern-day slavery and tell the stories of survivors. 

When I returned to the US at the end of 2015, I turned my attention to helping people in my home country with their own communication needs as a freelance writer and graphic designer. 

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You can find my more business-like side at: www.BonnieWDesign.com