The following post, and announcement, deal with the troubling realities of mental illness. If you are not in the place to read it, I would not fault you for skipping it.
With that said: I want to share with you how my latest book came about, and what inspired me to write it.
Four years ago, someone close to me lost their battle with mental illness. To say the grief was indescribable is an understatement; and though I still feel the ripples of its effects to this day, I am at a point in my life where I am no longer haunted by the questions that I will never be able to have answers to. This process of healing, which I do not feel will ever truly be complete, took several years, during which time I struggled with my own mental illness. I thought, "How is life so cruel?" I also thought, "Why is life so fragile?"
I do not have answers to these questions. However, it is for these reasons that I undertook an emotional journey of my own choosing, which I now feel is complete.
About a year ago, I began to write a story I was referring to only as "A.H." It was, at the time, a private novel — a "grief book" that I wrote in an effort to process my own feelings on the matter, in which I grappled with the questions of why people choose to end their lives, and what happens to the people around them in the process.
That book, which I am revealing to you now, is called "Angel Hour."
In this story, which takes place in the very city where I learned to live as an adult once I moved to the state of Texas, a young man faces an indescribable loss; and not long after, almost loses his own life as well. A combination of experiences leads him on an emotional journey, during which he travels through emotions that would break most people. Through it all, he is comforted by what I consider to be a Guide — a being that, though unreal to the people around him, is very much real to him.
"Angel Hour" is not meant to answer the question of "why" a person chooses to end their own life. Rather, it is an exploration of healing and how, through the many people around us, we grow to move beyond the events of our past, even if they are incredibly painful to us.
A huge thanks goes out to my friend, Jessica Meigs, for taking the time to edit this book, and to Getcovers Designs out of Ukraine for creating the beautiful cover.
If you choose to read "Angel Hour," please, be kind to yourself throughout the process. While I would hope that the novel would not rekindle the traumas of others, I understand that certain things can be triggering; and as a result: would extend nothing more than kindness and love to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message. It means the world to me.
