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Girls and Ghosts is a collection of romantic, eerie, scary short stories all about sapphic identities and experiences and other monstrous feelings. I'm extremely proud of it, I don't know how to do the usual marketing spiel that gets people to put their eyes on my work, all I can say is that I think it is cool, and important, and good, and maybe a must-read if you think mermaids are hot or girls are cool.

So if it's okay I am going to drop a link and encourage you strongly to check it out and maybe some of my other work too.

I am very excited to formally announce the release date for Girls and Ghosts. It is a short story collection featuring queer girls, strange and monstrous feelings, evil houses, haunted roads, and grand romantic gestures (like burning down a hateful old manor).

More info to follow soon, such as an ebook preorder link, maybe a mailing list for those that are interested, full sized cover reveal, and more??

In the meantime, maybe you want to check out some of my other work available here https://sojournerstales.home.blog/ or here https://sojournerstales.itch.io/

I am bad at social media, which is frustrating because I'm currently doing a thing that requires me to be at least active on social media with some kind of ~presence~. So where have I been these last couple months?

Well I finished my book, I am currently in the busy-work self-publish process of uploading it to a place and making it available in print and ebook and then doing? marketing? somehow?

Here is my frustration: I want to be involved in the community of writers that seems to exist, I want to be able to curate or take part in those sorts of circles, but I've no idea how! I am not a particularly Online person when it comes to my Internet activity, I am much better suited to lurking. I worry that my attempts at engagement come across as fake, trying too hard.

So here I suppose is free permission to poke at me and send me asks and such because I want to be present, and I am very friendly, and I finished the book!! Ask me for a cover reveal, or a blurb, or my favourite line. Follow me if you want to learn more about queer girls and ghosts and haunted houses and road trips and UFOs. They're all in the book!

I'm currently doing the final-final-final typo hunt pass on Girls And Ghosts, so enjoy this passage from the story 'We're Good':

When Cinders slept over the floorboards would creak and complain throughout the night. The back door would click open and then slam itself closed. Then open softly again and slam closed even harder than before. Opened softly, slammed closed. Opened softly, slammed closed. Over and over.

The house was trying to drive her off the couch and out the front door, but instead she came up the stairs (and I heard her trip and felt bad for her shins,) to my room and said, "I can't sleep down there. Wanna snuggle?"

The usual tricks did not work. When all the doors and windows cracked open to try and chill our bones we just held each other closer. When the carpet on the stairs slipped to jab the staircase edges against our legs, we cooed with concern and warmth and planted kisses on the bruises.

It's about how gay love blooms in spite of a homophobic house. I'm also realizing as I type this I have two separate and distinct stories in this collection about gay love defeating an evil, homophobic house.