05/21/2025

Today, I'm honoring the birthday of my second book-baby, The Wilding of Em's Path, a sapphic, dystopian, dark academia story that is a "beacon of hope."

Really, though, I'm honoring the literary community that helps deliver complex stories and keep them alive.

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The Wilding of Em's Path was first conceived back in 2019 when I was filled with anxiety for the country as we prepared to elect a new president. I channeled that energy into imagining what this land could look like if an autocrat occupied the highest office in the US.

As I told Laura Green of the Sapphic Book Review Podcast in our recent chat, I was relieved when the results of the 2020. But I also thought that should I eventually publish Em's Path, readers would regard the story as preposterous instead of a warning.

Still, I continued to gestate my book-baby, finally pitching it to my publisher, Ylva Publishing. Surprising to me, they said YES! and brought on a team that would help deliver my preposterous story to readers, including Lee Winter, as my primary editor, along with two other fabulous editors, a book-cover artist, and design experts.

This book-baby was delivered because of a great team of people. And I needed that team because it was a challenging birth.

Back in 2024, I was busy revising The Wilding of Em's Path, writing about what it's like to be a highly sensitive person — an empath in particular — in a world that celebrates cruelty, values avarice, and scapegoats the most vulnerable populations in the name of nationalistic pride.

To my horror, some of the very topics I wrote about were coming to pass.

Of course, anyone who studies human history becomes a kind of Cassandra, the mythical Trojan princess cursed with prophecies that would never be believed.

Study Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, and you'll see how corrupt, authoritarian leaders will disappear their own people.

Study the Jim Crow South, and you'll foretell how supposedly good Christians will do horrific deeds in the name of law, order, and decency.

Study nationalistic scapegoating, and you'll gain vision for how "easy" it can be to twist a population into believing that purification of a country is the moral course of action.

Study Josef Mengele, and you'll predict that in the future, some powerful sadists will breed scientific discovery and inhumane cruelty, naming the offspring "research."

Study the Lavender Scare, and the blinders will come off about how an over-reaching government has ruined the lives of everyday citizens.

And yet, studying history also allows us to see the rise of ordinary heroes who resist tyranny and oppression in a variety of ways. We can also witness during the bleakest times how kindness can illuminate the way and love between people can be the bravest form of resistance.

Keep your eyes open. Keep resisting. Keep loving. And...

Keep our stories alive!

Love is Resistance!