My name is Hilary Layne. I’m a writer and a lifelong student of literature and history. I was born and raised in the strange, mythical time before the internet and so books were how I occupied myself. Books and writing. I had the extraordinary good fortune to be taken into the educational care of several brilliant minds who taught me not what to think, but how to think. As such, my upbringing was both highly unusual and very fruitful.
By the time I graduated from high school I had already seen a great deal of our beautiful nation and so spent some time in Europe familiarizing myself with the old world of my people (Germans, principally). As an American, the notion of ancient roots can be somewhat difficult to comprehend, but I could not help but notice that such ancient-ness seemed to be slipping out of view. Nevertheless, in Europe and in the strange, ancient environment of my upbringing, I found a love for things that are not so much old as they are timeless. This adjusted my previously broad interests and I began to focus my study on history and mythology. While pursuing my own fiction writing.
I am frequently asked where I learned what I know and talk about in my videos. The answer, broadly, is life. And books. I did not go to college and opted instead to travel and teach myself. Everything I know I’ve taught myself. It has taken a long time and it has been a lot of work, but every inch of it was worth it.
I believe in the power and responsibility of storytelling in the formation of cultures, civilizations, and individuals. After all, we are what we read. Writers and storytellers have an obligation not just to entertain, but also to illuminate. Stories are not just the lifeblood of a people, they are also our nourishment. I think we, as a society, ought to look more closely at how we’re choosing to nourish ourselves.
I currently live in a quiet part of beautiful America with my husband and daughter. And some eight billion books.
If you would like to read my current novel The Blue Prince, you can find it here:
If you’d like to see my book recommendations, you can find that here.
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Thank you for stopping by!
