I’ve officially created 100 blog posts on my website, and I’m up to about 25 subscribers now. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed.

I do have an about the author page that is more vague, but I thought I would give you some more information on who I am, and why I reference some of the things that I do in my posts.

You may have noticed I post quite an eclectic array of things in my blog. I’m multifaceted and believe that should be reflected in everything that I create. So, without further adieu, here is a bit about me:

General Facts

• Woman (she/her)
• 34
• Poet
• Author
• Animal lover
• Nature lover

Mental Illness

When I was 15, I was diagnosed as having bipolar with psychotic features, which was later amended to schizoaffective disorder – bipolar type. The difference between these two diagnoses is rather subtle. Bipolar disorder with psychotic features means that you may experience psychosis while in a major mood episode like mania or depression. Schizoaffective disorder – bipolar type, means that you experience at least some of the symptoms of bipolar disorder and also some of the symptoms of schizophrenia outside major mood episodes. My bipolar symptoms align more closely with type 1.

I have other diagnoses as well that may come up in my writing, including anxiety disorders, C-PTSD, and OCD.

Finally, I’ve had a very long struggle with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) that began when I was about 11 years old. As of right now, I’m self-harm free and have been for over 2 years.

Chronic Illness

I have diagnoses of fibromyalgia, chronic vestibular migraine, and hypermobility spectrum disorder/hEDS (depending on who you ask). I have degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis in a lot of my joints.

This just boils down to the fact that I’m in a lot of pain a lot of the time, and brain fog associated with these conditions sometimes impedes my functioning as well.

Prior Careers

Prior to becoming too ill to maintain a regular job, I was a social worker for adults disabled by mental illness.

Before that, I worked in human services, caring for adults with developmental disabilities.

Since becoming ill, I’ve done several things to try and serve the chronically and mentally ill communities by raising awareness, writing educational posts, and working with people one on one to help them cope with their illnesses or circumstances better from a peer perspective (I am not a licensed therapist).

Cancer

Last month, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I have a thyroidectomy scheduled, and at that time, we will discover if it has metastasized or if it is contained to my thyroid. The surgery is in about a month. Until then, it’s a waiting game.

Poetry

A lot of how I cope is through writing, and I’ve been writing poetry since high school. Last year, I published my first book of poetry, I Will Rise, a collection of poetry about living with mental and chronic illness. You can read more about that book on my published work page.

I have a new book of poetry coming out soon. The theme will be healing from a pattern of toxic relationships and transitioning into finding authentic, soulful love.

I also did a poetry reading for one of my poems from I Will Rise and am planning on doing more once my voice is more reliable after my thyroidectomy. You can listen to that here – A Hopeful Nevermore.

Fiction

I also write fiction. I have just completed the first story that I am planning on publishing and am looking for BETA readers.

Here is the summary for the story:

Remington Hadley, a man from one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the world, has been running from his past for over a decade. When the nightmares start, he begins to remember secrets that he thought were buried out of sight and mind with his true identity.

The life he escaped a decade prior is coming back to haunt him – literally. As his house of cards collapses around him and the ghost of who he was threatens to claim his life, Remy has to decide once and for all if he even deserves to be saved.

It sits pretty at fifteen short chapters and an epilogue for a total of 9,662 words, making it a novelette at present. I expect this will change as I continue editing based on feedback from my early readers.

Book Reviews

I pretty much only review books that I loved. I don’t review books that I disliked or couldn’t even finish because I believe in authors supporting authors, not tearing each other down.

Most of the reviews that you will see will be 4- or 5-star reviews for that reason.

I review fiction and non-fiction from a variety of genres. I don’t take ARC requests, but if you drop me a link to your book and it’s something that I’m interested in, I’ll read it in my own time.

Again, I will not publish a review if I didn’t like what I read.

Prompts

I answer prompts that I think are interesting or fun, but I try to remember not to send those out by email.

I’m working on reducing the number of posts that get sent directly to your email so that you do not get spammed with so much from me because some days, I blog a lot. Other times, I can go weeks without a single post, and I might make it pop up in your inbox just to remind you that I still exist.

Comments & Questions

I’m always open to good faith comments and questions! It may take me a bit to respond if I am unwell, but I love interacting with new people.

Thank you for being here!