All Posts

Spring beauty ( Claytonia virginica ) beneath a common hackberry ( Celtis occidentalis) On Wednesday, I wandered through a Missouri pasture toward a stream, hat flying off in the wind and Munsell pages escaping their binder, and suddenly dozens of dime-sized toads began hopping around my boots. I hadn't expected that. I'd expected a trampled cow trail, compacted soil, maybe a degraded drainage ditch. Instead I found spring beauty blooming brave and paper-thin in the spring su

It’s been a while since I posted on my blog, sent a newsletter, or updated my website, and I’ve felt the weight of that absence at least once a week since the end of November. At first, I told myself I’d get to it the next day. Then the next. Then the next. And suddenly, it was a new year. I’d been missing from that sphere entirely for months. I’ve felt guilty. Lazy. Like I’m constantly behind the ball. Mostly, I’ve felt like I’m letting myself down—like I’m failing to do the

Welcome to the world of The Dark Mage , where quiet magic runs deep and soft-hearted women carry fire in their bones. Beautiful, bruised, and burning with quiet magic, Ren’wyn Nyvaris is the soul at the center of The Dark Mage . A healer of the dead, a keeper of secrets, and a survivor of deep-rooted trauma, her journey is one of tenderness, rage, and reclamation. This spotlight reveals the woman behind the magic: her shadows, her softness, and the strength she doesn’t know s

Let there be light, even in the darkest stories. The Story That Broke Me In college, I watched the movie The Painted Veil , and when it ended, I wept bitterly. I wept for the characters and for my own heart, broken in their pain. I searched for the novel in the library, only to slam it shut when I found the movie adaptation had been true. No spoilers here — but if you like heartbreak, go ahead and dive into that story. I remember agonizing over it. How it should have ended. H

🕯 Childhood Expectations vs. Adult Reality Do you remember what you thought about adults when you were a child? I remember believing...

✨ Where Magic Comes From Welcome to Aridryn, where magic is inborn and no one is sure which child will receive a gift. Only a few people...

Monotropa uniflora - Ghost pipes I’ve crouched beside lobelia in bloom and watched the bees. I’ve cataloged sedges in summer storms,...

💥 Real Talk: I’ve Always Wanted to Write Sex Scenes Yes. Let’s just say it. I imagined writing steamy scenes long before The Dark Mage...

The first thing I felt when I started writing The Dark Mage was urgency. Not pressure or ambition—urgency. I needed to get this story...

Important information to understand this post : Kirkus Indie is a company that reviews books. As in, you pay them a fee, and they offer a...

Don’t get me wrong, and don’t mishear what I’m about to say. I adore stabby, strong, feisty heroines with all my heart. Poppy taught me...

I’ve always— always —dreamed of being a writer. From the moment I understood that books had authors, I knew I wanted to be one. Tolkien...

When I first began writing The Dark Mage , I didn’t set out to write a story about trauma. I thought I was building a fantasy world full...