WKU graduate turns cancer journey into debut novel inspired by campus memories

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) – A Western Kentucky University graduate is turning a difficult chapter of her life into a story about love, memories and finding home.

Kaitlyn Henson, a 2019 WKU graduate, released her debut novel Stepping Stones Tuesday. The contemporary romance is set at WKU and centers around two college students finding their place in the world and in each other.

Henson said the idea for the book had been with her for years, inspired by her time on campus and the connections she made there.

“My time there was just really special,” Henson said. “I have always wanted to write a romance novel based there, because there’s so many love stories that come out of Western.”

The book’s cover features Pearce Ford Tower, where Henson lived in while attending WKU and later served as a resident assistant.

Henson said she began writing the novel after being diagnosed with stage four triple positive breast cancer in 2025. The diagnosis pushed her to stop putting off her dream of becoming an author.

“I started really panicking about the legacy that I was going to leave behind, or just anything that I was going to leave behind,” Henson said. “And so I decided this was the time that I was going to write a book.”

She wrote Stepping Stones while receiving ongoing treatment, using the time spent during appointments to work on the story.

“I wrote Stepping Stones while I was getting chemo treatment, when I was there every three weeks for 5 or 6 hours,” Henson said. “And that’s when I wrote the book.”

Henson said the novel became more than just a creative project. It also helped her preserve memories from a time in her life she never wanted to forget.

“I’ve always feared forgetting things,” Henson said. “Putting certain memories from my time there to paper was just relieving.”

Now living in Colorado with her family, Henson said the book is a way to remain connected to Kentucky and the university that shaped her.

“It’s kind of my way of writing home because I can’t be there,” Henson said.

Stepping Stones is available through ordering on Henson’s website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Schimmel’s Bookery and other some other Kentucky bookstores.

For more information on her journey and upcoming books, you can follow her on TikTok.