About

As a kid, I always loved books. I got to experience friends, deep connections, understand people’s thoughts and feelings, and feel like I belonged in those worlds. It was my safe place to be myself.

In adulthood, I learned how I needed to look and act to get and keep a job, friends, relationships, to look beautiful enough to be respected, to navigate bad situations, and to be loved. I attracted cute and charismatic people who loved the mask. I was so busy worrying about not being annoying, I didn’t even think about what I wanted.

Like most people, I learned to silence the voice in my head telling me what I wanted, my dreams, my interests, my personality, and where I wanted to go in life. I abandoned my childhood obsessions and interests and actively made fun of and minimized them. I changed my mannerisms, way of talking, habits, and wardrobe. I learned how to operate in public and turned into a character who embodied all of the qualities unmasked me was bad at.

After years of being in character (even when alone), I convinced myself that’s who I was. The more I was rewarded and, more importantly, prevented bad things from happening via masking, the more resentful I got toward the people for whom I became this person to survive. I started recognizing the toxic relationships and noted how I was also acting out of toxicity emotionally due to masking whiplash. In my late twenties, I saw a couple where the woman reminded me of a grown-up version of me if I hadn’t changed. She looked free and happy and looked unconditionally and unconventionally loved and supported by her boyfriend, and I broke.

I spiraled into depression and burnout. After I was diagnosed, I finally had the language to describe why I felt like I could either be myself or stay safe and loved. How toxic relationships and social circles shaped my survival skills and resulted in me turning into a toxic person myself.

After several months of recovering, I started to backtrack and get in touch with what I loved before the inner critic took over. I started getting back into my childhood interests and what I thought, how I felt. I rediscovered my love of writing, I started to feel like I was in my body for the first time in a long time and felt safe.

I started obsessively writing down characters in my head and the scenes I played in a loop over and over. I created characters who deal with burnout, dissociation, toxicity, and learn to fully embrace themselves and find the find of love they deserve. I hope the love comes through on the page and helps people realize we all deserve a life or freedom, love, and to be seen.

As a child, books were my refuge. Through them, I felt seen, understood, and free to be myself.

Adulthood taught me to hide. I learned how to look, speak, and act to be liked, respected, and safe. I wore a mask so well that I forgot who I truly was, silencing my dreams, my passions, my personality.

It wasn’t until burnout and a diagnosis forced me to pause that I remembered myself. I started reclaiming my childhood interests, my thoughts, and my voice. I rediscovered writing, creativity, and the joy of being fully in my body and my life.

Now, I create characters who navigate burnout, toxicity, and self-doubt, learning to embrace themselves and the love they deserve. Through my stories, I hope to remind readers: we all deserve freedom, love, and to be truly seen.