I turned 30 last week. In celebration of a new decade, I wanted to reflect on and share 30 things I’m grateful for. My husband. He has been so encouraging to me over the past few years as I’ve worked to achieve my dream of becoming a published author. He lets me bounce story ideas off of him, listens to sample chapters, and takes care of things around the house when I need extra time to write. My mom. Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has fostered my love for reading a

On Wednesday, October 21, Vice President JD Vance said that he was “disgusted” by fellow Republican Party members who pushed back on a controversial ad produced by the team of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for the governor of Ohio. The ad featured Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who repeatedly calls Acton a liar and says that “she lies about her past.” Acton has not been in contact with her birth mother since 1978, when s

Friday evening, my husband and I participated in the 19th Annual Candlelight Tours at Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia. This year, the cemetery partnered with Endstation Theatre Company of Randolph College to tell “haunted histories as told by the ghosts themselves.” Old City Cemetery, affectionately known as the “Gravegarden,” is a 27-acre public garden, history park, and burial ground in the heart of Lynchburg. It is the oldest municipal cemetery in Virginia, havin

The news is out. Called from Darkness, my debut novel, is coming in early 2027! I am overjoyed by the response. Since I broke the news, I have been met with so much encouragement and support. Thank you to each and every person who sent me a text, replied to an email, or commented on a social post. Your enthusiasm and shared happiness has really made my week. Now that the dust has settled, I want to share some additional information, as well as my feelings about the whole thin

Generative AI is in the news again this week. First, Jacob Coxon, an ex-Anthropic researcher, resigned this week because he said that his employer and other AI companies are not developing the technology responsibly. Second, Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei said that AI companies needed to slow their development to give safety measures a chance to catch up. This announcement came a few days after Coxon’s resignation and in the wake of a slew of negative press and consumer pushba