Meet SW LaRue
Reader, Writer, and Photographer
Dwelling in the Pacific Northwest, I enjoying spending time in nature. And on those rainy days when it's impossible not to get soaked, I prefer to curl up under a blanket with a good book.
I will not apologize for the profanities that come out of my mouth. As a young girl, I refused to let the littlest cuss word pass my lips, but now I can't make them stop.
Give me some sort of extreme emotion and I'm sold. Those stories that make me cry or throw the book across the room? They're my favorite. Add in some belly laughs and it'll be added to my favorites shelf.
I often find that to be true in real life as well. Make me laugh and I'll been keen to you. Looking back, I think that's why I have the friends that I do.
Pen Name
Growing up, Sarah Walter-LaRue was always too long for the small name line at the top of assignments and tests. I often found myself shortening my name to make the letters fit.
I was never meant to shrink myself. Walter already placed me at the end of the alphabet, often sitting the back of the class making friends rather than listening to lecture. Not to mention Sarah was such a popular name in the 90s that even now I barely even respond to someone calling my name.
In my high school photography class, we learned how to apply watermarks to photos, and again my name was too long to be inconspicuously faded across an image. But SW LaRue was catchy and didn't actually force me to drop one of my names - not entirely. I got to be unique and sneaky, so it stuck.
Family
On the rainy morning of August 10th, 2019 in the woods of Larrabee State Park, I married my best friend, Michael.
Michael has been my best friend since day one. On day zero, I stole his luggage while he was moving into our dorm, but after some problem solving, I returned his luggage. We officially met in Chemistry class at Western Washington University three months later. There was this instantaneous connection between the two of us that we just couldn't shake.
Together we have a large Australian Shepherd named Atticus. As young college students, we frequented the animal shelter dreaming of the animal we could one day adopt. This was the first time we met Atticus -- at about 3 years old, he had been brought to the shelter under another name. It was a year later that we went back, ready to bring home a new pet, and we found him surrendered again. Five years later, we couldn't imagine our lives without him.
The constants and the cycles
I find myself frequently rotating through different art forms.
I've come to accept that I tend to cycle through different mediums. I have stock piles of different crafts hidden away in closets and boxes. Name some type of art, I've probably tried it.
But through the different forms, there are a couple that I can't shake.
Oh, photography. I feel like my camera has become an extension of my body. I fell in love with photography in high school. I lived and breathed it in those years. I love capturing little snippets of time into a single photograph - a candid smile, the warm embrace of a couple, or a fleeting memory of a place visited. It gives me a challenge and brings me joy.
Writing was my first love. I've found myself creating stories and watching them come to life on paper ever since I was a child. I made dozens of picture books and comics about my friends as a young girl. Right before freshman year of high school I wrote a 250 page book (that I would most definitely cringe at now if I ever found it again). All throughout high school I look literary and creative writing classes. I stayed up late writing fiction and nonfiction short stories that I still love today. I always have a few concepts bouncing around in my head. I can only hope that someday soon I will publish one of them.
I hope that you find as much joy in my art as I do in creating it.