What the actual #%*¥.L Seriously, UPS? Seriously? Why is everything so hard right now? This past week has felt like a cosmic joke with terrible timing. My shipment of books for an upcoming book fair arrived soaked—UPS left the boxes sitting in a puddle on my porch. Half the inventory? Ruined.

I had a dream last night—the kind that lingers, the kind that teaches you something about yourself that’s hard to learn while awake.

I have a confession. Some days, the state of the world feels so bleak that I catch myself wishing something dramatic would shake society awake. Something that would force us to confront the widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The United States is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, yet millions of people struggle just to survive. It’s heartbreaking, and yes, it makes me angry.

I spent the Fourth of July weekend at my mountain property, soaking in the quiet. We visited the Little Grand Canyon—Utah’s spectacular hidden gem—and I wasted hours lolling around, staring at the sky. It was supposed to be a decompression weekend. Did I decompress? Not really. Because I knew what waited for me when I got home: The final edit of Book Four.

I’ve wondered why some of us feel compelled to chase something bigger than an easy life. Maybe hardship sharpens that instinct. Maybe it’s the desire to turn pain into meaning. For me, it has always been about inspiration. The kind I’ve received from writers, artists, musicians, and inventors whose work carried me through storms I thought would drown me. I want to be that for someone else.

For years, I buried my voice—softening the darkness, hiding the truth, and censoring the parts of me shaped by trauma. But honesty has a gravity all its own. I write with grit now, without guilt, and for the readers who crave fiction that feels real.

Want to receive my weekly blog? Sign up for author insights, new stories and creative updates straight to your inbox every week. Your support means everything! → Stay in the Story I have been on a journey to wholeness for so long that I’ve forgotten what the destination even looks like. That’s what trauma does—it reshapes you into a lifelong survivor. Survival becomes second nature, almost as if you were being trained for a post-apocalyptic world. But when peace arrives, when

So, my husband and I purchased some property two years ago with the intention of building a cabin. After realizing how much work and money that would be, we downgraded our plans to purchasing a destination trailer instead. The only issue was, how would we drive it to our property?

Goodness gracious. I read my books, and I wonder if people will think I need my head examined. I am preparing the second book in my series for publication and have been conducting rewrites that somehow make it even more darkly realistic. That's my dark mind running rampant. Why can't I write fluff? If I had enough imagination, I would probably write horror. The truth is, I want my readers to feel the pain of my characters—their poor choices, bad relationships, and mental angu

Five years ago, I almost died. It was May of 2020. The hospitals were packed with those suffering from the Coronavirus. I had been sick nonstop for a year by this point. I had spent a fortune on vitamins and supplements: Chinese medicine, expensive colon cleansing products from the Netherlands, and weekly acupuncture visits did nothing to assuage my symptoms. I had developed gluten and dairy intolerance, so I could barely eat, my hair was falling out in chunks, and my body wa

I don’t consider myself to be an extrovert. I am probably more of an ambivert. While I am not shy and enjoy performing and public speaking, I prefer spending time in smaller groups, and I get more out of one-on-one conversations. Large parties with tons of superficial chit-chat, and work trainings with breakout sessions that include speedy get-to-know-each-other exercises, where you play games like “Two Truths and a Lie,” stress me out!

I have had a busy week. Working on learning how to promote my books feels like I’ve returned to college. It’s a steep learning curve and pretty overwhelming! It will take time, but I’m not giving up. I wrote 12k words in my new novel in the last few days. I’m in a vulnerable place right now, which is the sweet spot I need to be in for this new story. It is my most sensitive yet. I don’t know if I will ever get the nerve to publish it, but writing it is liberating! All in all,