You may have noticed that I’ve been quiet for a few months. If you follow me on social media, you know there’s a reason for that.
The most I feel comfortable saying is that some awful things happened in my personal life this year that triggered PTSD from past abuse and multiple suicidal episodes.
And just as I was starting to feel like I was bouncing back, the awful thing happened again.
So, yeah, I definitely haven’t been in a great place emotionally this year, and it’s hard to be online when I’m barely here at all. But I’m trying to get back to a better place, despite it all.
It’s ironic that I missed Mental Health Awareness Month because of my mental health (and I feel like this isn’t even the first time it’s happened 😅). But this issue is very important to me, so I’d rather say something late than not at all.
If you’ve read my books, you know that representing mental illness honestly—flaws and all—is something I’m passionate about. If we only care about mental health when the person or character is perfect and not when they make mistakes, then we don’t actually care about mental health—because perfect people don’t exist.
I try to be honest about my own struggles with mental illness, just as I try to represent mental illness honestly in my books—even when it’s embarrassing, even when it’s scary, even when it makes me feel unbearably vulnerable, even when it hurts.
With as much as I’ve been unable to see this about myself, it’s important to me that you know you already deserve love, just as you are. 💚
You don’t have to be okay. You don’t have to pretend to be. You deserve love, regardless. 💚
Every year, I try to say a little about why lesbian visibility is so important to me—as a lesbian and as a lesbian author. I’m not exactly in the state of mind that I like to be in when I talk about these things, but I’m going to try, anyway. 🧡
I spent much of my life believing I was broken—because I didn’t have the right words or examples to make sense of what I felt and who I was. I spent most of my life hating myself for it. Even saying the word “lesbian” was a battle for me.
But I made it through that, and now, I’m passionate about writing the kind of stories I needed back then.
Representation saves lives, and as long as I’m able to write more weapon-wielding lesbians into the world, I will. 🧡
🐉 Disabled Sapphics (Definitely) 🏴☠️ Indie or Small Press Author (Definitely) 🐉 2025 Release (Possibly? If you’re reading the audiobook version of Goddess of the Sea. The ebook and print came out in 2024.) 🏴☠️ Choose Your Own Prompt 🐉 New-to-You Author (Possibly) 🏴☠️ Book from Physical TBR (Possibly)
🖤 Indie or Small Press Author (Definitely) 🩸 40+ Main Character (I think? Kara is over fourteen hundred, after all.) 🖤 Choose Your Own Prompt 🩸 New-to-You Author (Possibly) 🖤 Book from Physical TBR (Possibly) 🩸 Disabled Sapphics (Yes)
I think that’s all, but if I missed anything, feel free to let me know. 🖤
May was Mental Health Awareness Month, and things have been so tough that I never even took a moment to talk about it. Ironic, right? 😅
If you’ve read my books (especially Goddess of the Sea or The Reign of Darkness), you know mental illness is a major theme. I try to be honest in real life (like now, for instance) about my own struggles with mental illness—because I think hiding it only increases the stigma. And I try to bring that same honesty into my books.
I believe sanitized portrayals of mental illness only hurt us. No human being responds perfectly to trauma, and fictional characters shouldn’t either. Mental illness isn’t meant to be pretty. It can be exhausting, overpowering, and scary, and some of the symptoms (the physical ones, I mean) might even be things people consider “gross.”
It’s hard to write honest portrayals of mental illness—because it often feels like no one cares about that. They just want excitement and action. On top of that, it means you’re going to see the word “unlikeable,” especially if your characters are women. People treat us this way in real life, too; they’re just a little less shameless about it.
But…someone out there is struggling and needs to feel less alone. Someone out there needs this story. That’s why we do it—even when it’s scary, even when it hurts, even when it feels like no one cares. 💚
If you’re participating in Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo this year, here are some of the categories my books fit into. (I’m sure I missed something, but hopefully, it’s still helpful. 😅💙)
I’m so amazed and grateful (and sort of in shock, still 😅). I poured my whole soul into that book (and series), and I can’t tell you how much it means to me to know that people enjoyed it. ❤️
I love you all so much. Thank you for giving Rose and Kara a place in your hearts. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
And be sure to check out the whole list! There are lots of awesome lesfic authors on there! ❤️
Always relevant, I think, but definitely right now. ❤️
“Hatred doesn’t win with numbers or weapons. It wins with silence. It wins when people sweep it under the rug or try to justify it. It wins when people defend the indefensible. It wins when we’re too scared or too apathetic to fight back. And I won’t let it win. Not today. Not ever.”
Britney Jackson 
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