1. Introductions/Current Book Updates

Well, hello there, lovelies!

Because I’m such dogshit at getting back to questions, and never know where I should post my thoughts or updates… I created this little thang.

This year (2026, as I’m writing this), I’m working on really pushing more effort into my writing again. After years and years of working a lot, I’ve had to slow things down after getting into a bad car accident last year, and because I’m home a lot now because of it, I want to focus and pour my time and energy back into what makes me happy- writing.

I’m giving myself until the fall to see how much I can get done, and hopefully get some physical copies of my works into the hands of those who are interested.

The US has been hell on earth to live in, but if you know anything about what’s happened the last six years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I currently live and have lived for over two decades… you know we haven’t been able to catch a goddamn break. And my mind needs a bit of escapism right now, which always comes with writing.

So for this first chapter, I’ll answer whatever questions y’all have. Feel free to comment wherever, and I’ll get back to your comments as well as update the chapter itself with any questions I notice pop up a lot (save y’all the hassle of reading through comments if you’re currently reading this in the future).

So for now, here are the updates I can pump y’all with this morning:

Broken Hearts Café: my most current work, the book that’s gotten me through some intense life changes at the beginning of the year, and my last book for a little while. We’re looking at 100 chapters total for this one, and of course, I don’t want to jump the gun too soon, but once I finish the ending and if you all still really like it, would you want me to get this edited for prints?

The Sword of Excalibur: this one is still on hold. I’m hoping to come back to it right after Broken Hearts Café, but we’ll see. I know I’ve got some real dedicated readers out there who hope to see a new update, and I appreciate you guys so much! Bear with my inconsistent ass just a bit longer, and I’ll try to jump back into it.

Substack: subscriptions are paused indefinitely because I’m actually working on uploading IDNHSRWTW there, and y’all already know that book is LONG. Like over 150 chapters long, so it’s been a pain in the fucking ass to edit. For all my annual subscribers, I’ve got a thank-you gift I’m working on just as a token of my appreciation for everything while I undergo the massive update there. All my short stories will be updated to completion, as well as continuing with The Defense Rests.

Inkitt: I’ve got a love-hate relationship with this damn app, which is why I haven’t posted IASWAK updates there. I’m trying to figure it out, but the comments left on chapters keep disappearing and just- I dunno. Let me know y’all’s thoughts on it.

Eyes Like The Sky: this is almost done! I did some edits again to the story, then life got too busy, but now that I’m in the first period of downtime I’ve ever had since maybe like middle school over fifteen years ago, ya girl is finally locking tf in to get it republished on Amazon. I only removed the chapters because when I did my original publishing, I went through KDP, and they had some exclusivity rights there. This time around, I think I’ll pass on the exclusivity so I can repost my rough draft of the rest of the chapters here for free, and you’ll have the option to buy the polished version if you’d like to.

The Pirate King: I finally have time to finish editing this one for print. Lowkey, I had to change quite a bit because Pirates Of The Caribbean is Disney, and if y’all know Disney, you know they are never above a lawsuit. So I’m tweaking a bit, and of course, I’m changing the chantey I used from the game Warframe. Not tryna get sued with that one either lol.

I think that’s it for now, but ask whatever questions y’all have, and I’ll get them answered!

As always, thank you for just being here. That will ALWAYS be more than enough. Economically, the world is shit right now, and just being here IS supporting. If you can do more, I am absolutely appreciative of it, but my Wattpad has been up, and my books have been here for free. Nothing’s changing on that front, and it never will.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that everyone should read, which is why I never did paid stories here. I think it’s safe to say Wattpad earns enough money off the countless ads it’s been pushing as is.

And if they have no haters, I’m dead.

Just remember that shit.

I love y’all so so so much. Make sure you take care of yourselves, and feel free to return to whatever I write. My books are comfort novels (besides Someone New, that book ripped the hearts outta some of y’all, and I apologize lol. Please let me know if I’ve gotta add any more trigger warnings on that short story).

But for now…

Enjoy, lovelies! xoxo ••

2. Help Me Choose! - TDQHDJ/TDMBL

Well, hey there lovelies!

So I’m in the process of submitting a story for a contest, and I wanted to get a general opinion on which one y’all like! This is only an introduction to the stories, but I thought it would be fun to get y’alls opinions while I decide.

These stories were started between 2016 and 2019, I just never went ahead with publishing them because I think I was still writing The CEO’s Trilogy then so they just sort of got pushed to the side, even though I have like 20 chapters written of each lol.

As some of you know/see on my profile, I currently have 21 published works…

What y’all don’t know is that I got 21 fucking drafts lolol. I must be stopped at this point.

So here’s the summary of the two books. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing the first chapter (still a rough draft) of both!

The Devil Quits His Day Job

SYNOPSIS:

Steph is having what some would call “a transitional period.”

By “transitional,” we mean she’s unemployed, past due on rent, and currently in the woods at 12:14 AM with a shovel and a dead body she insists is nothing more than “an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Enter: the Devil.

Not in a burst of flames, though she wouldn’t put it past the dry heat from the California summers. Not in a sulfurous fog- there definitely wasn’t enough moisture in the air for it. No dramatic lightning strike, though her city could use some rain. He just kind of… bursts through the dry soil of the open clearing she deemed acceptable to bury a dead body in.

Steph, mid-shovel, can only think to herself: Is she about to see an undead uprising?

And more importantly: Is this something she can put on her resume?

The very last thing she had on her mind was that this was Satan. Yes, that one . Prince of Darkness. Lord of the Pit. CEO of Eternal Damnation, LLC.

But he prefers to go by Mephi. Short for Mephistopheles.

And the fact of the matter is: he’s burnt out.

After several millennia of torment logistics, sinner intake processing, torturer invoicing, and managing an increasingly entitled demon workforce (“No, Zigorth, we cannot pivot to a more positive-brand torture experience”), he’s done. He wants a sabbatical. Maybe pottery. Maybe goat yoga (those curious creatures do tend to love him). Or maybe just not listening to screams for a few centuries.

Bottom line is, he’s looking for a replacement.

Steph, still holding a shovel and standing next to what is technically a felony, though she’s still running with this all being one grave misunderstanding, feels she is being typecast.

But Satan insists she’s perfect for the role.

Let’s review her qualifications:

• Unemployed (flexible schedule).

• Morally ambiguous (see: shallow grave she’s failing to dig).

• Terrible at customer service, but it is Hell after all. That won’t be needed there.

• Once successfully ghosted a pyramid scheme so hard that they offered her a raise for her negligent tactics.

Hell, as it turns out, is struggling. The torture methods are outdated. The branding feels stale. The torment metrics are down 17% year-over-year. And the newer generations of sinners require “ironic suffering.”

So Steph decides she’s got some room to negotiate.

She demands:

• Dental.

• A hybrid schedule (eternal damnation, but make it flexible).

• A trial period, in case ruling the underworld clashes with the “personal growth journey” she’s on.

•

Satan, who hasn’t had a vacation since God himself cast him down from Heaven after he tried bringing his issues to HR, only to be forced to unionize, agrees immediately.

What follows is a management restructuring of infernal proportions. Steph implements:

• An HR department (demons hate it, but someone’s gotta hold them accountable).

• A suggestion box because every soul, even the damned, should feel like they’re heard. Will they actually be? Of course not.

• The first-ever “Bring Your Trauma to Work” day. Casual Fridays were voted out eons ago, with jeans deemed as unnecessary torture for the workforce.

• A restructured torment system that pairs influencers with people who fix their lips to say “Now I’m not political, but…”

•

As Steph navigates power struggles, unionizing demons, and a deeply passive-aggressive Cerberus who demands 100 full skeletons to chew on daily, she begins to discover that ruling Hell might actually be easier than navigating LinkedIn. Or her Indeed inbox, for that matter. At least there wasn’t spam.

But when Heaven sends a strongly worded memo about “unauthorized leadership transitions,” Steph must decide:

Does she return to her old life of job applications and the hellscape that is dating apps? The very thing that brought her into those woods at 12:14 AM on a Wednesday Morning?

Or does she lean into her new title:

Supreme Ruler of the Damned, Manager of Eternal Agony Operations, and Director of Strategic Suffering Optimization?

•

A dark comedy about unintentional ambition, inevitable burnout, and accidentally networking your way into eternal power, this short story asks the important question:

Is it really imposter syndrome if you’re quite literally the fucking Devil?

The Dying Man’s Bucket List

SYNOPSIS:

The Dying Man’s Bucket List

Working Title: Raymond Shaw’s Unecessarily Specific & Mildly Concerning Premortem To Do List

1. David Golem’s Book Signing. Any of them. Bring the megaphone

2. Steal back the Halloween garden gnomes from Mrs. Shelby’s tool shed, since she doesn’t know what the concept of borrowing is.

3. Return the lawn mower to Jim Townsman’s home without him knowing it came from me, because apparently, I might not know what the concept of borrowing is either. Sneak it back in because I already (surprisingly) convinced him he misplaced it, and Jim owns a gun.

4. Mail the letters.

5. Tell Nancy how I feel (and brace for the slap. Trust, it’s coming).

6. Train an animal of choice to deliver passive-aggressive notes to my only son once I pass on, simply reading, “interesting life choice you made there.” Bonus points if it’s a parrot and I teach it to utter the phrase “He knows” with every delivery.

7. Win the neighborhood feud I initiated in 1995 by subtly moving Mrs. Downfire’s garden statue two inches to the right until she either rids herself of the hideous thing or the last of her sanity. Closest we’ve made it to is her fence post… so find a way to cut through it.

8. Mon Sherié’s Last Show. Return the handkerchief.

9. Hire a historian to invent a minor but convincing scandal for my bloodline. One that will be introduced over the town’s local radio just after my funeral, that only I can explain.

10. Locate that locked wooden chest. Replace the contents with a single note that says, “You were always my first choice.”

Bonus (because my son deserves to learn the value of a dollar):

11. Hide $20,000 somewhere in my home and leave clues that are technically solvable, but emotionally devastating with irreversable damages. Extra bonus points if most of the money is in the lowest denomination I can get. Extra extra points if the money is in a non-US currency.

••

SUMMARY

“Come home. We need to talk… Oh, and Grandpa Raymond is dying. For real this time.”

•

20-year-old Wesley Shaw watched as the two rather courteous gap years his father granted him after graduating from Pine Hollow North, both came…

… and eventually went.

Managing to get nowhere with finding out what to do with his life, his dad’s now calling him home- something he should’ve been excited for, considering he was basically a town celebrity on the Northside for winning the Homecoming Game that separated Pine Hollow North from Pine Hollow South. Wesley expected his father to try and straighten his life out for him- that was the deal now anyway, right? Get it together out there, or move back here and work for him?

Mr. Shaw was inevitably about to bring down the hammer on his son’s shitty life choices…

Wesley just wasn’t anticipating which Mr. Shaw life was about to throw at him… nor for the hammer to be both plastic and inflatable.

•

Chadwick LeBlanc couldn’t have been more the opposite.

Chadwick knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life, and he was well on his way to achieving everything he ever wanted, regardless of what obstacles stood in his way- being a black man in a small town…

Or so he thought.

There was just something… something missing . A catalyst to give his work in the marketing industry more meaning, perhaps?

With his mother finally wanting to sell that old rickety home on the Southside of Pine Hollow, which held far too many memories- some good, most bad-, Chadwick is forced to return home for the summer before his third year in university and sort the junk that accumulated there over the years, now just collecting dust.

He didn’t expect to find a locked wooden chest left by his late grandfather for his absent father, with a key no one had seen in decades.

He definitely didn’t expect that box to lead to an eccentric yet dying old man he’d never met a day before in his fucking life.

And if you were to tell him that this dying man would then guide him right back to someone who made Chadwick’s blood boil at the mere simple thought of- the man responsible for one Homecoming Game that split the town and turned the Southside against him… he one hundred percent would’ve canceled that flight ticket.

•

A story in which two young adults must sort out years of differences brought upon by one high school homecoming football game between two rival schools in one small town, all in an effort to help an old, eccentric man complete his deeply chaotic, dying bucket list.

While that old man dispenses life advice to Wesley that ranges from genuinely heartfelt to legally dubious, Wesley realizes that that crazy old man isn’t just a bundle of chaos bouncing off the walls of his fusia-painted house. He’s forcing Wes to confront the messes he left behind. Including Chadwick. Leaving his only grandchild to decide:

Confess to rigging the game and risk becoming Pine Hollow’s permanent villain… or keep the secret and lose the one person who somehow seems to know him better than anyone else…

Yet all Chadwick LeBlanc can ask himself as he falls deeper into this old man’s antics is this:

How the actual hell did the Louisiana-born and raised LeBlanc’s get wrapped up in a family like the Shaws?

Ridiculous, heartfelt, and packed with small-town absurdity, this short story will tackle the lasting effects of unfinished business, inherited mischievousness, and a strange way some intense rivalry between two complete hot heads can somehow morph into something dangerously close to love.

But that’s only if this dying man’s bucket list doesn’t put them all in jail first.

••

Let me know your thoughts! :)

3. Eyes Like The Sky - Cover Debacle

Alright, folks! After weeks of pain and misery (rereading is like listening to my own voice on a recording), I have finally finished final edits on Eyes Like The Sky…

And let’s just say that my writing has improved tremendously within the last few years, so this one took me a little longer to edit through.

Also, it’s been wild with all the AI stuff coming out, so in addition to y’all already having my books here long before AI was a thing, I’ve started saving drafts as I edit for publication. Idk, the shit with Shy Girl by Mia Ballard could’ve just been proven to not be AI if the author provided the rough drafts IMO. And while I always have my hard original copy, and a few edits (including the embedded digital trail created by every edit I’ve made in my Google Docs), I think it’s also been kinda cool saving the edit of each run through and seeing what I fixed, changed, my notes, etc.

Now with all that out the way…

I couldn’t decide whether the cover needed something new, ya know? I even changed my dedication blurb in the book a little (still dedicated to my late father, though, of course) and now I’m questioning whether I just need a new look for this 2nd edition.

So while I work on editing the next chapter of BHC because we’re about to get into some steamy/adorable/hearty bits there, I thought I’d post the covers I’ve been tinkering around with, here. Here is the original one from the first edition:

Let me know what you like and what you don’t. Some of the simplified covers have just been me not trying to give some of y’all a ‘Fabio’ moment out in public, but I also didn’t want to do those stupid animated covers you see everywhere. I’ll insert a picture of what I’m talking about here:

After receiving my first print, I noticed that the paperback image for the original cover was fantastic, but not perfect. To alter the dpi, and create better printable images, I flipped the original image, and decided on this one:

I’m thinking of centering the text more? Lifting it a bit but not covering the eyes… yet I really like how the curve on the ‘S’ touches their noses. Idk lol.

But THEN… ya girl got a little more introspective with the edits for the writing, along with realizing that cover above might be hard to have in public (unless this book is for you and your safe places (i.e. bookshelf), which I totally get lol but just let me know if I’m overthinking it and the above cover is fine!)

So I made a few rough draft covers that would hopefully be viewed as a bit more tame, but still very beautiful. I wanted something simplistic enough since there will be some inside art. Here are those designs:

Now if y’all would be so kind, just let me know which ones you like! And keep in mind, I have full control of changing covers between digital copy, paperback, and hardcover. If you want a design for different kinds of copies, let me know. If you hate them all, also let me know lol! I’ve got Canva Pro, so the designing world is quite literally my oyster.

I added more prose to this revised copy, and lengthened the book a bit, so the abstract covers will make more sense after what I added to this version just fyi (like the sun splatter one).

As always, love y’all Enjoy, lovelies! xoxo

Also also, I’ll be scouting for some book reviewers. You’d be receiving a free digital copy of this revised book for a brutally honest review on Goodreads. And I mean brutally honest, lol. I really want some feedback on this one because I’ve been putting belt to my own ass with these revisions. Let me know if you’re interested! ••

So… An Update

Well, hey there lovelies!

I’m just popping in with an update literally a day before my birthday lol…

Your girl made the longlist!

Don’t get too excited though, I unfortunately didn’t make it to the shortlist (top ten) but it’s okay! I didn’t even think The Dying Man’s Bucket List would get long listed because I uploaded the copy the last day of the entry and with my unrevised version accidentally (this was when I had just found out about my previous partner passing away and my mind was just not with it at all), so I’ll take it!

I at least now have bragging rights that my story made the top 1% lol, just not the 1% of the 1%.

I’m also super excited to share the official cover for Eyes Like The Sky!

I hope yall like it enough because it took me so damn long to create then edit then scrap it then start all tf over again.

As of now, I still haven’t received a proof yet for the paperback though so this will just be the ebook cover then I’ll wait to see if I like it once I get the physical copy. Here is just a mock up of the vision:

This book is now set to be released TOMORROW (on my bday)! Those who reached out to receive a free copy for a review will get a message from me today! So make sure to check your emails :)

I will be posting the first chapter tomorrow both on this updates book and on the original book here on Wattpad so you all can see what 4 full months of dedicated editing has done to the story!  And hopefully decide if you want a copy.

Alright, onto more news:

The Pirate King - this is next up for self publishing, and I created an entirely new cover for ebook! I also made one insane one for the paperback and hopefully the hardback, but I’m waiting to get a proof back so I don’t get y’all’s hopes up if it’s back to the drawing board.

For now, here’s the first rough draft ebook cover. I’m just starting the compressing for the heart so details will change once I’m done (the artwork is from an old file of mine, see below):

You might recognize the heart if you’ve been rocking with me long enough. It’s my drawing from almost a decade ago!

Here’s what I’m working on for the paperback and hardcover (wrap image). I thought it would be too fucking cool to put the entire map I also made, as the book cover, but we’ll see how it’s executed lol:

Then I’m back to regular uploads on Broken Hearts Café after tomorrow! Sorry for keeping you all hanging this long!

And all day tomorrow will be spent with me getting back to all the messages (including the super kind bday wishes, thank you!!!) because I genuinely can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday<3

Enjoy, lovelies! xoxo