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Here are some things I love: Great books. Great writing. Psychological thrillers. Dark contemporary. Brutal honesty. Kissing. More-than-kissing. Romances between guys and girls. Romances between girls and girls. Characters who are real and flawed and struggling and maybe a little atypical. Books that make you think. Books that feel necessary. Books that fill a major hole in what already exists for that category.
So, today, I’m featuring a book that is every single one of those things. Black Iris by Leah Raeder is an intense and sexy (and intensely sexy) psychological thriller about a girl named Laney and her dark journey toward both revenge and self-acceptance. Leah has made no secret of the fact that this is a very personal book for her, and I know (and know reviews will show) that others are bound to feel the same way about it. As such, I pried deeply into the unicorn brain behind the book for about as personal an interview as you’ll ever see.
And, bonus: there’s a giveaway attached – someone will win a signed ARC of Black Iris, and I think it’s pretty obvious you alllllll want in on that. See details at the bottom of the post for how to enter, and I’ll pick a winner at noon EST on Friday, March 6!
But first, here’s the official info about the book:
It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn’t worth sticking around for.
If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.
She’s not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.
But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it’s time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.
Which was the plan all along.
Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.
She’s going to show them all.
Pre-order it here: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Google Play • IndieBound • iTunes Powell’s • Simon & Schuster
Sounds pretty freaking great, right? Spoiler alert: it is. Now, please welcome* to the blog author Leah Raeder.
*jk she already pretty much lives here
Let’s just address the obvious major question right off the bat. You’re pretty outspoken about – well, everything, but let’s go with the sad state of f/f lit. Why do you think it’s so lacking, both quantitatively and qualitatively?
God, I could write a book on this subject. I think the main factors in the dearth of f/f books out there are that romance fiction skews heavily heteronormative, and a majority of its readers are straight women who read mainly m/f and, sometimes, m/m. A lot of romance readers consume novels rapidly and seek out certain tropes/kinks (biker gangs, BDSM, 18th Century Scottish rapists, etc.), and so you have a situation analogous to the way men consume porn: select your kink, select your desired role-play, and get off. The audience consumes it fast, so it is mass-produced.
Obviously this raises interesting questions about the ways that romance novel consumption parallels porn consumption and the sorts of standards and expectations that sets up, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
Why does f/f fiction often suck? I think mainly because there’s so little of it. There isn’t a rich canon to draw inspiration from, learn from, aspire to, etc. And often those writing it, while well-meaning, are more interested in moralizing and ticking boxes than in honing their craft to razor sharpness. Maybe it’s the social pressure. Maybe those well-meaning f/f writers think, “There’s so little lesbian fiction out there, I have to speak for all of girl-loving-kind with this.” And the lower demand and smaller audience means there’s less attention falling on it and less criticism and, inevitably, less improvement across the genre. The bigger a genre, the more diamonds you find in the rough, and the higher the standards rise for all work in that genre. Being so tiny, f/f has a paucity of both books and great books, and its lack of great books keeps new readers away. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.
On the more positive side, what f/f would you recommend, whether to first-timers or seasoned readers? Any you particularly wish you’d had around as a kid? And do you think Black Iris will be a gateway book for a lot of readers?
I have no idea what first-time f/f readers should be reading. I knew I liked girls since I was a child, so I don’t know what it’s like to approach that from the outside. As a kid I watched every single episode of Xena: Warrior Princess in the hopes that Xena and Gabrielle would kiss. That’s how desperate I was to see girl-on-girl action. You’re asking the wrong person here.
But a few standout f/f novels I’ve liked are Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body (f/unknown gender), Paula Boock’s Dare Truth or Promise, Amanda Grace’s No One Needs to Know, and Sylvia Brownrigg’s Pages for You. There’s also this weirdo named Dahlia Adler who wrote a pretty damn decent one called Under the Lights.
When I was a kid, I would’ve loved YA/NA by Boock, Grace, Adler, et al. I needed to see portrayals of girls like me, portrayals that weren’t painfully stereotypical and that captured the fluidity of sexuality and attraction. I didn’t relate to characters who were 100% gay and never hooked up with or had wayward thoughts about the opposite sex. It made me feel like a “bad gay” on top of already feeling like a freak for being queer. There are plenty of kids out there who benefit from those portrayals, but there are also lots and lots of kids who fall somewhere between 0 and 6 on the Kinsey scale, and there are far too few books serving them. Bisexuality is arguably more taboo than gayness now, FFS. How the the hell did THAT happen?
And I needed to read books by people whose voices I could trust. For example, the word “dyke” makes me want to curl up and die. “Dyke” was always an epithet to me and I’m still deeply uncomfortable with it, and its usage by older queer women who are comfortable with their sexuality is jarring and unsettling. I’m in my third decade on Earth, and I’m still not at a point in my life where “dyke” doesn’t make my stomach clench and my pulse race in a queasy way. My first thought is always: “Are they talking about me? Please, please don’t let them be talking about me.” Sometimes adult writers forget that what they’ve fought so hard to understand and accept about themselves is something that younger people are still struggling with. That some of us will always struggle with, no matter how old we are.
As for whether Black Iris will be a gateway f/f book…I doubt it. BI is brutal and dark. It’s about bullying, internalized homophobia, self-loathing, and overcoming the self-destructive thinking/behavior society codes into us. It’s intensely personal and my experience as a queer person obviously doesn’t represent every queer person’s experience. But I do think pain and hardship and fear are fairly universal experiences for anyone who’s not straight, and it’s important that we don’t let that get lost in our desperation to show a light at the end of the tunnel. It annoys me when people say, “I want to see more LGBT+ books that aren’t about coming out or queer angst!” Yeah, well, I’d fucking love to see a world where those weren’t issues anymore. But they are, and it’s a PRIVILEGE for some queer folk to not have to constantly worry about those issues. It’s vital that we keep telling stories about the hardship of being queer until shit actually changes. It’s not a zero-sum game. We can have more sunshine-and-rainbow queer books alongside our gritty realism.
It’s obvious there are a lot of ways in which Black Iris is different from your debut, Unteachable. In what ways, though, do you think they’re similar?
This is tough. There’s a lot of geography porn? Unlikable heroines? Pretentious metaphors about the stars? In all seriousness, it’s the coming-of-age stuff. Laney’s already in college, but like Maise, she’s struggling to carve out a place in the world for herself. And while Maise is torn between two age groups, Laney is torn between two people, and the two different facets of herself that they represent.
Also, Hiyam is in both books.
We’ve had the conversation before about sex in NA (and you’ve had it with Heather of Flyleaf Review in this great interview), and I know we’re both on Team Yes Please. Why do you think people object to it, and why are you in particular pro?
At the risk of pissing off huge swathes of the book community, I think a lot of the moaning about sex in New Adult is sour grapes. It tends to come from authors who don’t write about sex, and from readers who have no interest in ever reading about sex. NA, even the worst of it, sells well because sex sells. YA is far chaster, and so it’s not uncommon for a good YA novel to sell fewer copies than a crappy NA novel. It sucks, but it’s like complaining that people buy porn instead of indie films. They’re not your audience in the first place. They’re not taking sales away from you. IMO, the real issue is that people who don’t want to write about sex want to sell as many books as if they had written about sex. And as for readers who want books about people in their 20s without graphic depictions of sex, there’s an entire section of the bookstore for you called “General Fiction.”
The whole thing recalls the resentment that writers of adult fiction had (and still have) toward YA writers, when YA became ultra-hot and started outselling adult. Ironically, now it’s (largely) YA authors turning their resentment against the new kids in publishing, NA authors. I suppose NA authors will eventually turn on whatever comes next. Dinorotica, probably.
I’m pro-sex-in-NA because sex is part of life, and I live in a society that both fetishizes and represses sexuality. America is absurdly puritanical. We can depict graphic, gruesome murder, but show a nipple on TV (or in public!) and everyone clutches their pearls. Think about that. A nipple is worse than murder. How warped are we?
I’m tired of YA shying away from depicting sex. Especially when it comes to sex that isn’t hetero. That’s not real life. In real life, teenagers have sex. Gasp! If we’d like them to understand what it’s like (and shouldn’t be like, and theoretically can be like), we have to show it. Fading to black doesn’t teach or enrich a reader. It cuts out one of the most normal and vital parts of human experience. Which isn’t to say that every YA novel has to graphically depict sex, but that not enough of them are showing enough, and that’s why there’s a demand for it in NA. (I think NA is also basically the under-40 generation’s take-back of romance, but that’s another tangent…)
“Karma is a bitch, but you can call her Laney.” So sayeth your website about the main character of Black Iris, and…yeah, I’d say Laney qualifies to be an unlikeable heroine IRL. Was she a tough character to write? Or did the fact that you yourself are horrible help a lot?
They say “write what you know” and I know I’m a total bitch, so. (Blogger’s note: truth.)
Laney was a blast to write for about 90% of the book because she’s completely unapologetic. Unapologetic girls enchant me, IRL and in fiction. Women are socialized to be people-pleasers, to efface ourselves, be polite, be nice, smile smile smile. To walk around constantly apologizing and feeling bad that we’re never enough: not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not kinky enough, not happy enough. Writing a character who just says “fuck you” to all of that is incredibly liberating.
Until recently, women in fiction were rarely allowed to get revenge and be violent, ruthless assholes. Gone Girl heralded a sea change, and now we’re seeing tons of female characters with qualities that were typically reserved for males: angry, violent, spiteful, vengeful, methodical, relentless. Bad girls who are actually bad. It’s fucking glorious.
In addition to the hotness of having an Australian accent, Blythe in Black Iris also has some badass tattoos. If you got one in honor of the BI release, what would it be?
Man. YOU ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS, ADLER. I want to say a black iris because that symbolizes everything that is dark and sexy and queer about this book but…I’m also really drawn to the wolf imagery, and the way that Laney’s realization of her own power is symbolized by her identification with creatures who hunt. But wolves are so cliche. And so are flowers. So I’d get a tat of Teresa Palmer because hot Aussie girls are forever.
A lot of the discussion around Black Iris revolves around the hot f/f-ness, but it bears mentioning that it contains multiple characters – including Laney – who are not neuronormative. Can you share a little about that?
Confession time. As well as being queer, I’m bipolar. I have type II bipolar disorder, to be exact. My mental health history reads like a made-for-TV movie: meds, suicide attempts, hospitals. It’s pretty messed-up and sad. Like queerness, mental illness is something I hadn’t fully come to grips with until the past few years. I felt ashamed and, mostly, terrified of being looked down on or treated differently because of it. My books are really just me working through my own issues: Unteachable is about feeling young and old at the same time and figuring out what it means to be an adult; Black Iris is me coming to grips with being queer and bipolar, openly, in front of the whole world. I can’t say too much about this because of spoilers, and also self-consciousness, but yeah. There is a lot of stuff about mental illness in this book. Trigger warnings galore.
You have notoriously terrible taste in music. That’s not a question, but I guess if you wanted to talk about the awfulness you listened to while writing Black Iris, that would be okay.
I have “terrible taste” in music THAT SOMEHOW KEEPS ENDING UP ON YOUR PLAYLISTS. How…queer. (Blogger’s note: …shut up. *kicks dirt*) Also, anyone who calls 80s music “terrible” deserves to be locked in a room for all eternity with nothing to listen to but John Mayer.
Aside from the obligatory 80s stuff (Laney and Armin are both huge 80s nerds), I listened to all sorts of shit while writing BI: Chvrches, The Black Keys, The Naked and Famous, AWOLNATION, etc. My books usually form around the seed of one song, and for Black Iris it was Garbage’s “Vow.” Music is hugely important to my writing process, and I’ve got a playlist page on my site now. Also if you follow me on Twitter you WILL be regularly spammed with music vids (as recommended to me by my personal DJs/saviors, Allen and Cam).
As anyone who follows you on Twitter (or Facebook, or Instagram) knows, you are a mild fan of alcoholic beverages. What’s your writing drink of choice right now?
Lately I’ve been super into Knob Creek maple bourbon. Also your mom. (Blogger’s note: *extends middle finger*)
Most exciting thing and most terrifying thing about publishing Black Iris: GO.
Exciting: It’s a highly anticipated New Adult novel with lots of f/f in it!
Terrifying: It’s a highly anticipated New Adult novel with lots of f/f in it!
Seriously, I’m pretty much at exactly the same stage of horror/giddiness that I was when I first had this bright idea that went, “Hmmm, there aren’t any f/f New Adult novels…I should write one!”
You’re currently writing your third contemporary NA Romance, Cam Girl, about which, frankly, you’ve been pretty stingy when it comes to sharing information. What can you tell us about it, dammit?
According to Atria, it’s “a sexy romantic suspense novel about two best friends who are torn apart by a life-shattering accident…and the secrets left behind.”
Okay, you’ve seen the summary on Goodreads, right? Basically it’s like that, just add a bisexual physically disabled Latina heroine, gender dysphoria, hot redheads, and Cam Gigandet. Also, it takes place in Maine. Maine is pretty.
BTW, if you think Black Iris is gay, just wait till Cam Girl. Yes, there’s f/f in this one, too. Lots more. Also POC, trans, and gay supporting characters. And there will be more queerness, gender fluidity, people of color, disability representation, and general fuck-yous to the romance status quo in this and all of my future books. I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to tell stories about the types of characters you rarely see in NA romance, and I’m seizing it and running as fast and as far as I can.
You get to share one rainbow-themed picture right now. ONE. What is it?
http://media.tumblr.com/e17edc1fee9e42305338ef5b35fb87bf/tumblr_inline_mjl10sIJgv1qz4rgp.gif
(Blogger’s note: I could not put it in the post itself for fear of losing every single one of my followers and also potentially killing any epileptic who laid eyes on it.)
What has no one asked you about Black Iris yet that you really wish they would?
“Your cover is totally a vagina, right?”
Just kidding, they ask that all the time. And yes, Virginia, it is.
Want to enter to win a signed ARC?
Haha just kidding, that was obviously the world’s most rhetorical question.
I’m not gonna do Rafflecopter because I hate that it doesn’t appear on this page (fun times with WordPress.com) so I’m just gonna tell you here:
- Follow both Me and Leah on every social media site possible (I highly recommend then muting at least one of us on Twitter)
- Obviously add Black Iris to your TBR
- Most importantly (and mandatory) to enter, leave a comment below to tell us what has you the most excited for Black Iris! (And leave some contact method in your comment.)
- Due to high international postage costs, giveaway is US only, though if you’re international and want to pay the difference in postage, you are more than welcome!
(Bonus points if you tweet us pictures of hot redheads)
The Daily Dahlia 
Pingback: Top Ten Books By People I Adore That Rocked April 2015 (+Giveaways!) | The Daily Dahlia
I am following both you and Leah on Twitter! @mmalavec It has been added to my TBR for awhile now because I keep hearing such amazing things about it! I would love to read it so much! Thanks for the chance!
mmalavec(at)med(dot)umich(dot)edu
The characters in the story is what makes it sound so very interesting. I do prefer a little dark in my romances. I can’t stand angst though, which is why I liked Unteachable so much. I am looking forward to this story as well.
I’m @heartless_tree on twitter.
What has me SUPER EXCITED about BLACK IRIS is the bi rep. You say bi rep AND f/f romance ? And I’m SO THERE. Plus, Leah’s gorgeous writing. Can’t wait for the heartwrenching feels I’m sure are to come (plus it will be my first F/F NA so yay!).
Bonus pics of Bridget Regan who is a bi redhead on Jane The Virgin:
I’m looking forward to the writing. It’s like Leah Raeder spits rainbow on a page, then weaves them into shape with a unicorn’s horn (21 Galleons at Diagon Alley!).
Love this interview. Love Leah!! I’ve already read Black Iris and LOVED it!!! I follow Leah everywhere (I swear I’m not a stalker) and I absolutely love the 24/7 Da-Leah twatter show! It’s a bright spot in my day. You ladies seriously need your own talk show. Or radio show lol!! And leah, I will titally overlook the John Mayer jab.
I am excited for Black Iris because I am ready for something different. Knowing Leah I will get good writing and a story that stays with me.
I am absolutely in love with this interview and everything that Leah said, and everything that you (Dahlia) asked.
I once remember writing a review and complaining that it was yet another YA book with a “fade to black” type scenario, despite being a relatively gritty book in terms of violence and other themes. A lot of people who commented on the review told me that it’s YA, and that authors need to cater to a younger and more sensitive audience, and that’s why they don’t show depictions of sex and opt for fade-to-black instead. I wish I would have been able to coherently represent my thoughts as well as Leah did here because I 100% agree. You don’t need graphic depictions of sex, but teenagers ARE having sex, and instead of treating it like taboo *maybe* we should start opening ourselves up to it — and I mean ALL of it, f/m, m/m, and f/f alike.
So needless to say I’m really, really excited for Black Iris. It’s one of those books you don’t realize you want until you find out about it, and I didn’t realize I wanted f/f stories until they were being more widely published. So for me, Black Iris probably WILL be the gateway book that brings me closer to MORE varieties in my romance.
Can’t wait to read a f/f book!!
Great interview and Nicholas Cage’s cameo was totally unexpected! I am international but would happily pay the shipping if I were to win the ARC. Thanks for the chance. PS. Black Iris and Cam Girl are my top two most anticipated releases of the year and your redheads will appear on twitter shortly (:
I follow you both on twitter (@eihdiho) and I always found Leah’s writing very in your face and I love the no-holds barred quality of it. I’m pretty sure BI is gonna blow my mind. Lovely interview guys! 🙂
I follow both of y’all on Twitter. I am excited about ALL OF THE THINGS. And yes, I blame this blog for stoking the fires of my obsession to obscene levels. (Thank you).
I follow (stalk) on twitter (@shawnalaub) and although I’m a mostly a silent bystander, I’m a Raeder’s Reader on Facebook as well. As far as why I am excited for Black Iris, it’s simply because of Leah’s beautiful way with words. I’ve sort of taken a break from NA (something I’ve done reluctantly) and returned to literary fiction because I couldn’t take any more disappointment. I have been reading NA since it became “a thing” and I’ve grown really tired of it all. The writing isn’t imaginative or thoughtful, the characters are boring or worse clichéd. With the exception of a few authors, I’ve all but given up on NA, which pains me because I know it can be so much more. I love that Leah wants to shake things up a bit, add diversity and meaning to a genre that doesn’t get the respect or credit that it deserves. I’m looking forward to something new and different. NA could use anything that Leah decides to throw our way. And she loves Sylvia Plath, so that within itself is enough for me.
So much love for this interview. That is all.
Honestly, I’m really excited about the f/f aspect of BI. This will be a first for me. Take me there Leah! Ow ow!! 😘 My favorite part of this interview was the bit about women being people pleasers. About not being thin enough, pretty enough, etc. I love that she’s giving society the middle finger. It gives me courage and a dash of confidence too. You’re my hero!
I already follow/stalk Leah on just about every site. Buuuut… @katherynaaron is my IG and Twitter. Original I know.
I have no idea which part of Black Iris I’m most excited about. All I know is that I’ve re-read Unteachable so many times over the last year or so that I’d be eager for Leah Raeder’s next book regardless of what it was about.
That said, neurodiverse heroines are always a win in my book. 😀
I WANT THIS BOOK SO BAD. F/F NA AAAAAH! FORGET THESE OTHER PEOPLE AND JUST SEND IT TO ME ALREADY.
Haha. Kidding!
No but seriously. I needs it.
ALSO I wore my Unlikable Heroine IRL shirt to an author party at Apollycon so that should count for something right? (I got many compliments on it btw.)
Following you both on Twitter via @Triciab04
I am so pumped for Black Iris, for so many different reasons! Most of all because it sounds like something completely different than i have read before, and I loved the writing in Unteachable so I’m fairly certain I will feel the same about BI.
Firstly, this interview was hilarious and that picture…yikes. (But funny. But yikes. Oh, boy).
Anyway! I’ve been psyched about BLACK IRIS basically since I heard about it, then I read UNTEACHABLE and now I’m, like, triply psyched about BLACK IRIS. NA Thriller! With bi representation! AND neuroatypicality rep! It sounds fantastic and that cover is amazing and I just need it in my life already.
Thanks for the great interview and the giveaway! 🙂
You two are my favorites, which you both know.
And what part of BI am I excited about? Pfft. What part am I NOT excited about?
Pingback: Black Iris gets a STARRED REVIEW in Publishers Weekly. Plus, my first interview this year. | LeahRaeder.com
don’t use social media
added to Goodreads
the characters
I’m now following you both properly. I’m some version of @melissakrehley or @mkrehley on twitter, IG, pinterest. Melissa Krehley’s kindle on FB. I’m also a Raeders Reader. god, I sound creepy.
Dahlia – I love your blog, its so smart. And this interview? kickass.
I admire Leah for her bravery and I think putting out BI, something so personal for her, takes so much courage and I love that. Plus, I’m pretty intimidated by her insane writing skills. I know, why would I want to read something that intimidates me? Because I want to think, I want to feel. Plus, I’m really hoping that it encourages other authors that write about topics with equal diversity to put themselves out there as well. Something needs to change, I get the feeling a lot of readers are getting burnt out, leaving romance for other genres. And we cant keep ignoring the fact that women have relationships with each other. Sometimes romantic and sexual relationships. I’ve tried to find f/f worthy of reading – its either not explicit enough OR there is no depth to the story/characters. So yeah, I’ve got lots of expectations for this one. But if it has a quarter of the brilliance of UT then I’m sure to love it and fangirl the f*ck all over her when I’m done reading it.
It releases on my brothers birthday, but I can pretend its my birthday that day, right? Have a cupcake with it? Throw a little party?
“I’ve tried to find f/f worthy of reading – its either not explicit enough OR there is no depth to the story/characters.”
Melissa, this is SUCH a great point. I realized when I read your comment that I was mainly focusing on romantic f/f, not erotica, but you nailed it: f/f tends to either be sweet romance with little steam, or erotica with lots of steam but zero plot/character development. Where’s the middle ground? *That’s* what’s lacking.
@lindsayfouts
follow you on fb and twitter. added book already to TBR list. sounds like a good one! Love the gone girl mention
I loved the writing in Unteachable and am looking forward to how that manifests itself in Black Iris.
jessikiki23@yahoo.com
I follow (and mildly creepily favorite all your conversations) you and Leah both on Twitter and Insta as @MissMolliWrites.
I’m most excited for BLACK IRIS because I read Leah’s post on it and cried a lot and basically realized I NEED this book in my life. I need all her books. I totally support her choice to write diverse books and am so excited to read BLACK IRIS and everything else she writes. I super loved UNTEACHABLE – it moved me so deeply in a lot of ways.
Also, I adored this interview. So much.
I just have to say, I HAVE to read this book. Just don’t pick me as the winner because postage to NZ is a bitch. I’ll get it myself when it comes out. Although waiting that long might be testing my patience more than I need it tested… Damn it sounds good!
I’ve followed Leah on Twitter (as SingitBaby)/Pintrest/”secret” Tumblr/Facebook/Spotify (I’m a Raeder’s Reader – Elise Biggerstaff Crisp). I now want to follow your blog and you, Ms. Adler, on Twitter. What do I look forward to in BI? Something different and mind-twisting. Leah is a powerful writer, whether it’s fiction, blog posts, or reviews. I’m just thankful to get to read the words/internalize the ideas/be kept young and free-thinking :). So, more of that stuff. Oh, I like Leah’s musical choices. If not for Camgirl Playlist, I wouldn’t have known about “Come Undone” cover. It’s rare I prefer a cover to an original (especially when it’s Duran Duran – John Taylor – still swoon worthy). Oh, an truly terrific interview ^^^. Thanks for sharing it with us all.
I follow you both on Twitter (@mokotutza) and Facebook (Ramona Mona Darling) and I’m a die hard Unteachable fan, so Leah’s Black Iris can only be better and that thought just makes me very, very happy. And very impatient. I’m international, but more than happy to pay for everything. Including pizza.
I follow you both on twitter (@BeStoutMyHeart) and I love the brilliantly witty things you both say!
I think I’m most anticipating the suspense and the beautiful writing I’ve been craving since I first read Unteachable.
Thank you for the chance!