RICE LAKE, Wis. — For 25 years, Katie Metner of Rice Lake had lived a love story with her loving husband, but something painful happened after a skiing accident.
“By the time I was 35, I had lost a limb and had been in a wheelchair for three or four years,” Medtner explained.
An avid reader of fiction, as she adjusted to her new identity she found she could barely identify with any of the characters in mainstream books.
“I thought, ‘Okay, I have to do something about this. I have to write a story that actually talks about what it means to have a disability and that you’re a normal person, and then you fall in love and have an epic love story, because at the end of the day, that’s what we want,” Metner said.
So she started writing.
She published it on Amazon and immediately people started reading it.
“I’m so happy to have my work in this genre,” one reader responded. “Romance novels are the biggest genre in the world, so it’s hard to relate to them when your work isn’t in it.”
Metner’s novels always feature characters with disabilities: Her characters are in wheelchairs, have dangling legs, in one novel a character is an amputee, and some have hidden disabilities, such as congenital heart disease.
“I write so that people with disabilities can have their voices heard and people without disabilities can read it and learn about person-centered language, different disabilities and how to interact with people in our community. Instead of saying, ‘Oh, let me get that,’ say, ‘Do you need help with anything?'” Metner said.
She currently writes mystery novels for Harlequin Interig and general romance novels.
She has published 61 books to date, with 10 more on the way.
You can find Metner’s novels on Amazon. She’s also active on Instagram and Facebook. All of her romantic stories are set in Minnesota or Wisconsin.
Susan Elizabeth Littlefield
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