— Award-winning author of Boot Language

Winner, Next Generation Indie Books, Memoir
Silver Medal, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, Best New Voice
Silver Medal, Readers Favorite Awards, Memoir
Finalist, International Book Awards

Vanya Erickson, award-winning author

Award-winning author of Boot Language

Winner, Next Generation Indie Books, Memoir

Silver Medal, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, Best New Voice

Silver Medal, Readers Favorite Awards, Memoir

Finalist, International Book Awards

“Vanya seamlessly weaves tension and lyrical beauty into every scene, playing my emotions as a reader perfectly. The result is a fantastic read.”

— Laura Davis, best-selling author of The Courage to Heal

“Vanya seamlessly weaves tension and lyrical beauty into every scene, playing my emotions as a reader perfectly. The result is a fantastic read.”

— Laura Davis, best-selling author of The Courage to Heal

Passionate about women’s stories,

Vanya Erickson has completed her historical novel DRIVEN - inspired by her grandmother’s experiences during WWI, a ballerina who threw away her career to become an ambulance driver in France. Vanya is currently querying agents.

A research fanatic, Vanya has read, interviewed, and traveled extensively to investigate restrictions on women at that time, including medical research on therapies performed on women in institutions - and the shadow of that treatment today. Her writing room is surrounded by memorabilia of the 1910s, including music, vintage photographs, suffrage posters, and her grandmother’s riveting self-portrait. In addition, she’s a language geek, studying word usage of the day to write accurate and sometimes hilarious dialogue.

Vanya Erickson-06

“It’s always a supreme pleasure to be shaken by the emotional earthquake of a master storyteller. Vanya Erickson is an original.”

— Susan Brown, PhD, publishing James Joyce scholar and writing coach

Vanya Erickson, award-winning author

Vanya Erickson is the award-winning author of the memoir Boot Language.

Her essays have appeared in a dozen literary journals and anthologies. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature and a Teaching Credential from The University of California at Santa Cruz. A retired teacher, she spent 25 years teaching writing and mentoring teachers in the oldest, continuously used schoolhouse in California. She lives for reading aloud in her off time, hiking in forests, and working with therapy horses.

“Erickson’s real gift is her utter honesty and clarity about pain and evil in this world and each if their intersections with love.”

— Sheila Coonerty, PhD, psychologist, Bookshop Santa Cruz family

Recent Posts

The Story Behind DRIVEN

Snuggled safely in my bed, my mother would regale me with stories of my maternal grandmother, who came into her prime before women won the right to vote in 1920. Mom,  who’d usually clam up when asked for details in daily life, never held back. As a result, hers were riveting retellings – and I…
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Emily’s Backstory (The Protagonist)

Emily Winstead is the daughter of an influential socialite. As a result, Emily was given opportunities many other girls didn’t have. When Emily turned two, her mother’s best friend,  “aunt” Florence, put Emily on Maggie, a great beast of a white horse, her little legs warmed by the mare’s flanks. In no time, riding became…
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Naming Characters

Through the years, I’ve answered to many different names: Linda, Chuckwagon, Cactus, Vanya,  Lasagna, V, Mom, Mami, and Nana, to name more than a few. With each stage of my life came a new name – a new persona, something I find endlessly fascinating.  I’m a name geek. I’ve been known to stare at an…
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