Why I Write

Growing up, books were my refuge. Nancy Drew. Mary Higgins Clark. The library was the place where the world made sense when nothing else did — it kept me grounded, kept me moving forward.

As an adult, I realized the patterns were the same. We build lives the way we build rooms — curated for the image we want to project instead of the people we actually are. I got tired of watching that. In myself and in everyone around me.

House of Barnes doesn't do that. The design is sparse on purpose. So are the stories.

I write characters with love and without judgment, and I let them walk their lives out to the most honest conclusion. Not to preserve the fairytale — to show you the bones of the house. Where the load-bearing structures actually are. The ones we cover up. The ones we can't afford to miss.

These stories are inspired by the things I've worked out in my own life. I share them as a witness to my own story, in the hope that they help you find your way through yours.