Off The Shelf with Morgann Book
#47: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Writing With Dyslexia with Haley-Grace McCormick
21 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What inspired Haley-Grace McCormick to become a writer?
I was one of those people who would scream right into her journal, so I got pure emotion in these things. There was this entry when I was 14, 13, really, really young, and I'm talking about this boy that I was absolutely in love with, so much so that there's dried tears all over the page.
Oh, yeah. That 13, 14 year, like, where it's just like your first love and you're just like, I would do anything for you.
Literally. And he was much older than me and he was my best friend's brother.
Chapter 2: What misconceptions do people have about dyslexia?
He knows who he is. He knows who he is. Best friend's brother. And I was like, I was just obsessed with this guy.
Chapter 3: How did social media influence Haley-Grace's writing journey?
Yeah.
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Off the Shelf. Today, I'm sitting down with Haley Grace McCormick, a content creator turned debut romance author who, after being diagnosed with dyslexia, was told she wasn't supposed to be a writer. Now, she is the author of The Enemy of Time, a book rooted in memory and love and the idea that timing might not be what we think it is.
Haley Grace, welcome to Off the Shelf. Thank you so much for having me.
Can I take you everywhere with me? That was like the best intro anyone's ever said.
Chapter 4: What is the significance of 'The Enemy of Time'?
thank you i spend the most time on the intro i want to set it up really well and i'm glad you approve someone asked me like how do you explain your book and i was like um it's a love story can like i'm just gonna have you like right there it would be amazing i'm happy that works i'm happy that works now you are someone who loves film tv pop culture if you had to be dropped into any movie or tv world for one day which one would you choose
Oh, this is like the biggest decision of my life right now. Gosh, okay. So here's my thing. Vampire Diaries comes to mind first because of two reasons. That would be Klaus and that would be Damon. Okay. I would want to be dropped into the universe solely for them. I know that I would probably be one of those people who got like offed in the first season, but I'd be okay with it if I met Damon.
So probably Vampire Diaries or probably like The magical world of Harry Potter, I think I would love that.
Yeah.
So it's like for the magical world in there. I'm trying to think of all my guides that I'm just obsessed with. But yeah, Vampire Diaries I feel like is my solid answer.
Wait, why are you being offed in the first season? Because...
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Chapter 5: How did Haley-Grace design the cover of her book?
Matt survived eight. You know what? That is true, actually. If he can, I can. You know, I feel like I'm one of those people, like, I'm the klutziest human in the world.
Chapter 6: What are the hidden easter eggs in 'The Enemy of Time' cover?
Like, if I can trip over something, I'm going to. Like, the other day, I was literally, I just went to go, like, stand up. I'm at a little coffee place. I go to stand up to hug somebody. I slipped while I go to hug them, and I headbutt them at the same time because he's really tall. And I was like, I'm just, I'm going to sit down, and I'm not going to move again.
Chapter 7: What are Haley-Grace's thoughts on 'The Vampire Diaries'?
You honestly don't seem clumsy at all. You seem very, like, put together and just, like, you know...
how to not be clumsy I gotta say that's the vibe I got that's just the hairspray and the foundation you know the makeup that looks great there you go okay let's get into things I know that you said recently that today my life doesn't look like the future I once imagined can you take me back to your younger self before writing was even on the table what did you want to be when you grew up
Oh, you know, that's an interesting question for me, because when you when you grow up with any kind of neurodivergency, we're kind of told what we can do or how we're supposed to do it. We're never really asked, what do you want to do? Because people are very concerned. Adults are concerned for, you know, how are you going to grow?
Chapter 8: What projects is Haley-Grace McCormick working on next?
How are you going to make a living? Those kind of things. So it was never something that like my mom would ask me because she's dyslexic. And so she knew, oh, she'll figure it out. She's going to be fine, you know, and like she had the tools to help me.
But teachers or, you know, counselors in school, for them, it was just, okay, let's figure out, you know, what is the easiest thing that she can get through and how we can get her by. So it wasn't something I really ever thought about very often. But I loved arts of all kinds, and I loved to draw. And I think in my mind, I always wanted to maybe go into something with some kind of design into it.
So I was going to be a fashion designer originally. That's what it was going to be. And I'm 5'2", so I'm super short. And thus, pants never fit me. And so I had to hymn from a very young age and like how to tailor. So my grandma, she would teach me how to like, you know, sew my clothes because she's five foot. So she has it even lower there. And so she taught me how to like sew at a young age.
And I loved patterns. Something really cool when you're dyslexic is we're great at pattern recognition. And I don't say words right, as you just saw there. But we're really good at looking at a pattern and understanding something. And so fashion came natural to me. So that's what I was like, I'm going to be a fashion designer or I want to be a neurobiologist. And because I love the brain. Whoa.
Dyslexic. You know, I was learning about it. So those were my two paths. And everyone was like, oh, dear, what is she going to what is she going to do?
What do people when you're diagnosed with dyslexia? What do the what are the careers they tell you you should do then?
Oh, in all honesty, it was always things like something to do with your hands. We're really good at anything creative and we're really good with our hands. And so a lot of times it's, you know, if you can get into anything in cosmetology is a big one. We're really good at anything in that field. Anything in the arts, again, you know, it tends to be what they will kind of push you towards.
Or I had a principal tell me to my face, Mary Rich. You're a girl. You can marry rich and you'll be fine. Oh, my God. And that was actually I had a principal in my elementary school who told me that. So that's kind of what the things you hear is very much. Again, they don't ask you what you want. They tell you what you're going to have.
Was that hard when you were younger? Like, how do you how do you prove them wrong and prove that you're going to follow a life that you want to do?
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