The first time I heard someone say, women with bipolar disorder should not reproduce, I knew these stories had to be told. There was and is so little positive examples in the media of women coping with mental illness while navigating motherhood.

            I grew up in a therapy-positive household. Growing up and learning how much therapy was stigmatized, was a surprise to me. But becoming a mom threw me into the midst of those stigmas.

            One day, I decided to do something about it, and From the Latin “Cor” was born. I saw Brene Brown’s TED talk on Vulnerability and my life was forever changed. I focused my blog on the idea of vulnerability. I shared the experiences  that women have historically been too afraid to share. And in the process, I met and encountered a hundred or so women battling the motherhood/mental illness stigmas, just like I was.

            I knew I wanted to take this further, so I enrolled in Southern New Hampshire University to finally finish my English degree. I graduated summa cum laude in 2020, then in 2021 started my master of fine arts in creative writing.

            I wrote The Weight of Gold while finishing my bachelors. It’s the culminating project of my journey of vulnerability that began over six years ago. Though it’s fictional, it shines a light on the experiences of real women and the challenges we face with physical and mental sickness.

            My current project, and MFA thesis, is an urban fantasy. While it strays from the contemporary realism of my previous work, I’m still dedicated to using my writing as a platform for exploring the human condition and plan to continue to focus on themes of mental wellness, gender, and LGBTQIA+ in all my works, including fantasy. Raven in the Mirror features a lesbian protagonist and ace nonbinary protagonist, and focuses on emotional themes that are complimented by its fantastical plot.

            Besides my novels and personal blog, I’ve been a regular featured blogger for a university women’s resource center, had a personal essay selected for a women’s art event, and have volunteered as an editor for an academic journal and corresponding blog. “Bloom,” my speculative flash fiction about gender and the divine feminine, is being published in Queer Scifi’s 2022 anthology Clarity, coming this October.

            My husband and I have two biological children and have been foster parents, something we plan to do again someday. As a family, we love to commune with nature by way of camping, gardens, and indoor plants. I am a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community and my family and I are all part of various neurodivergent communities. We love who we are, and wouldn’t have it any other way.