Excuse me, I didn't need to be called out like this today 😂

Surprising absolutely no one, the task I've been procrastinating for over two weeks took me all of one hour to finish ✌️

Happy Bi Visibility Month to all my fellow disasters! ❤️🌈 In THE PHOENIX KEEPER, Aila is openly bisexual - in other words, a socially anxious wreck with twice as many options to fail at flirting 😂😭

It's the second week of the semester, which means I'm frantically attempting to cram 124 new names/faces into my brain before I have to pass back their first papers next week. Who will win: my anxiety, or my awful memory?

Once in my college class, I asked students to brainstorm sustainable design of our room with no windows, expecting answers of "less natural light, more electricity use, less mental health benefits..." The first answer was "it's safer if there's a shooter." We need to do better.

WHY IS IT 112 DEGREES OUTSIDE MAKE IT STOPPPPPPPP

109 degrees again today. I live in front of the fan. It is my life. It is my world. There is nothing but pain beyond.

What's cuter than a phoenix? A whole nest full of phoenixes, of course! I drew this adorable nest of endangered Silimalo phoenixes as a promo for THE PHOENIX KEEPER at a Waterstones event last month. Was anyone lucky enough to snag one of the limited prints? 👀

The Phoenix Keeper has been out in the world for an entire month! Hearing your stories about connecting with Aila’s anxiety, about animal lovers and workers in animal care seeing your experiences reflected on page, it makes me feel so humbled to have reached my audience ❤️

Left the research track at 26 Met my current partner at 27 Got my new teaching job AND a literary agent at 30 First book published at 32 Anyone who thinks you've missed your chance in your early 20s hasn't yet experienced the idgaf renaissance of your 30s ✌️

Endlessly surreal to see ✨️my book✨️ out on a table display?? For anyone near Glendora, CA, I've left some signed copies and art cards at @bnglendora ❤️ Are there any other bookshops in the Los Angeles area I should pay a visit? 👀

Yay! It's such a gorgeous edition 🥰

I think Archie would adore the beach, so many keys and phones left unattended 😌

Now that it’s been out for a month, I have to ask . . . who’s spotted the easter egg in The Phoenix Keeper that teases my next book? 👀

I forgot to cross post, OOPS. Hey, so, THE PHOENIX KEEPER was the Illumicrate ✨ July box pick, and isn't this special edition absolutely GORGEOUS???

If you're staring in admiration at the endpapers for THE PHOENIX KEEPER Illumicrate ✨ edition (who wouldn’t be?) but you want to double-check your magical bird identification skills, look no further! A guide to Aila’s World of Birds aviary (plus visitors from neighboring exhibits)

Leftover stock of the gorgeous Illumicrate edition of THE PHOENIX KEEPER, for anyone who missed out!

My adult cozy fantasy debut, THE PHOENIX KEEPER, is out now! Featuring a bisexual MC with anxiety, working to conserve endangered phoenixes at a magical zoo, with a slowburn rivals-to-lovers f/f ship ❤️