The Anxious Author

      Dead boys are such wonderful things, and I don't mean that in a serial killer or necrophilia kind of way. Dead boys, meaning the boys inside books that readers cannot help but fall in love with (whether they be ghosts, vampires, or mortals) are the safest form of romance that exists. Rue Volley sums it up nicely in her book, The Dead Boy's Club when Harper (the main character) says that she prefers dead boys because they are controllable.      A book is inanimate, even though it possesses the power to control our emotions. It is a way to experience life without the heartache that comes with it.  Dead boys are easy to love. The whole point of literature is to form a strong emotional bond between reader and character. It's easy to fall in love with someone you know doesn't come with risk or the tangles of reality. Someone who ceases to exist the moment you close the book. Those boys aren't wandering around asking for attention, they are waiting patiently in the

          I want to share something with you all and I hope it is read with an open mind and the understanding that I am no longer the same person I was when the events I’m about to share with you unfolded. When I was young, really young, something happened to me. I don’t know how to explain it without hurting anyone and I understand that the occurrence was an accident. Only recently have I begun to understand how that single moment may have impacted my life. Moments are fleeting things, you see, but they carry a huge impact. One moment can send ripples through your life far from the event.  Today at work I received an obituary for a young man and when I read that donations were requested to be given to mental health organizations, my stomach dropped. There are so few reasons why that line might have been written. Then, when I was in the store, picking up a salad because I am going through a stage of detoxing my entire life from Instagram to food, I overheard some ladies who knew t

            This month my town has been talking about mental health awareness. The local hospital has issued challenges to the community to help strengthen mental health and is doing giveaways to encourage people to participate, the Pony Express Mental Health Riders came through town, a mental health resource center was held in the park that should probably be called our town square, and people have been talking openly about how they struggled with mental health during the pandemic.      It's been nice seeing people talk about mental health like it isn't something to be ashamed of. It's not, by the way. There is nothing wrong with feeling sad, or depressed, or anxious, or needing help because your brain is trying to convince you that everything in your life is wrong and no one loves you. I had an interview with someone for the newspaper I work at and she said that if you go to the hospital for a broken arm you should be able to go because you're sad.      A lot of peopl