Hello Friends, July has arrived in a rush of sunshine, late nights, and the kind of busy that makes the days blur. I’m neck‑deep in creating book merch for upcoming fairs — mugs, bookmarks, keychains, stickers, annotation cards — a whole world of Somewhere Aching in physical form. It’s chaotic, but it’s also a joy.

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.