Aurelia (2020)

Aurelia contemplates the purpose of life, death and everything in between. This book considers how much space one takes up, and why other people question our right to take it. Invented from a place of grief, of curiosity, and the desire to be understood. For everyone who has felt out of place in this world, for everyone who had to invent their own place to be, uncertain of such a place could exist. Aurelia is the voice of a young, queer woman who wants to know why things hurt the way they do, while she considers sexuality, depression, eating disorders, her existence as a woman, and what purpose it all has.

Aurelia on Amazon – Aurelia on Goodreads – Also available at Maude’s Paperwing Gallery in Millvale and Kittanning News

Blake (2022)

Blake touches on some of the same themes in Aurelia, such as womanhood’s obligations and evaluations, being too much, and the harshness of chronic suicidality with lifelong mental illness. It encompasses the experiences of being neurodivergent, having obsessive compulsions and pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder to paint a picture: a life of feeling wrong, a life of obsessing, a life sans belonging, a life spent trying to explain the unexplainable to try to find a cure, at last, for loneliness. Although the book touches heavily on the themes of depression and self harm, it also shows the joy in unconventional friendships and lets you know you are real. Named after Amanda Palmer’s song “Blake Says”, Blake gets to the root: there is beauty in absurdity, there is healing in the truth. This collection tells that truth.

Blake on Amazon – Blake on Goodreads – Also available at Maude’s Paperwing Gallery in Millvale