COVID hit our house hard earlier this month, and after nearly 3 weeks of acute symptoms, I’m finally coming out of it. As it’s literally the last day of September, it feels like I lost a month, but such is life.

When are some times you’ve been the most self-connected? What were you doing? Where were you? How did it feel ?

The healthy, therapized version of myself is reminding me to stay present even as uncomfortable memories surface from a long-forgotten time in my life, and the creative avoidant version of myself is writing things down to use as content in future projects.

It’s my 40th birthday! Grab a drink, your favorite snack, and a cozy blanket while I get all introspective about life, writing, past mistakes, and the many lives I’ve lived.

I may have a Taurus-heavy chart, but patience has never been one of my strongest personal qualities. Hard-working, persistent, reliable? Sure. But patient? Absolutely not.

Mental health narratives play a crucial role in so many important stories, and as someone personally affected by mental health struggles throughout my life, it’s important to me that my work reflect those realities as well.

My choice to write characters with disabilities is a personal statement in many ways, that our voices matter. But it is also quite simple: I believe all kinds of people, with all kinds of stories, should be able to see themselves in literature and other media.

Musings on life, aging, and self-discovery as I approach my 40th birthday this year.