A Third Kind of Madness

16 posts

2026: Off to a BIG Start

A Small Light in the Darkness A Third Kind of Madness Fun SW-SW

Dearest Friends and Faebies, 2026 already feels like it’s been a year long.

Which I guess it has been, in one way of looking at it. A year can be 365 days or the length of what we’ve lived so far in that time period, right? Things have been bad scary a shitshow here in the US and other places. Y’know, I want to focus on some positive things happening in my life, because art is important and success by queer disabled weirdos is an affront to fascism. But first I need to say a few things upfront, so we all know we’re on the same page.

…I mean, if we’re not, have you even read my books?

We in the US are living on stolen land, in a country built on stolen labor.

NO ONE can be illegal on stolen land. The systems the people who stole that land–white people–set up to control those enslaved for the labor that built this country have never been dismantled. They were only adapted. We’re seeing that now, in every aspect of what’s happened previously and is happening currently in the US. Black and brown people have always been marginalized here, always exploited, and we are once again seeing those who fear that reality flipping and putting THEM in that place flexing the power they’ve amassed to try and ensure that never happens.

They want to eliminate anyone who doesn’t fit into their small-minded idea of who counts as a person, those who just by existing demonstrate how weak and pathetic and useless these people actually are. They would kill off queer people, trans folk, the BIPOC folk who don’t bend their knee to them, the disabled, the ones who don’t subscribe to their twisted version of religion or “values.”

Fuck them, and their fascist government and their genocides. Fuck their hatred of community and culture and love and neighborliness. Everything they stand for is the opposite of what makes us good and kind and powerful. Fuck that. I will always be in opposition to what they stand for.

Oh, and fuck ICE.

That’s the bare minimum of words I have on this and related subjects, but I didn’t want to leave the first month of 2026, where as it stands currently [as far as we know] at least nine people have been killed by ICE, without making completely sure that my readers are on the same page of me. If not, here’s your door to leave –> 🚪

Now for some good things in 2026.

You might have noticed that there’s a store on the website now! If you are in the US you can now purchase my physical books and other related things directly from me without having to go to Ko-fi to check out. Unfortunately because of the current situation in the US right now I can’t ship outside of the US, but there’s a variety of retailers that carry them in your area. And of course DRM-free e-books are always available from me directly.

I also moved the “Membership/Support” option away from Ko-fi, which is a big deal! Now you can either do a one-time support or subscribe to a membership via Square checkout. That simplifies things for me in a big way. Members will get special emails directly in their inbox that will have behind the scenes info, scene shares, advance opportunities, and more. It’s basically what I was offering on Ko-fi but without a middleman.

In somewhat related news, you might have seen me talk about my Three Ravens Press mugs that I designed through Bonfire and how I am giving all proceeds to Leftover Love, Inc. LLI is a Baltimore-based 501c3 nonprofit that rescues fresh leftover food from local businesses for those in need. Through sales of the Three Ravens Press mugs I’ve already been able to raise almost $100 for their cause, and I’d like to do more!

I’ll be moving all my Bonfire-produced merch to a charity model this month! I’m looking for at least one more Baltimore-based charity to support, preferably one that aligns with the values that are touted by Vali and the crew at The Maithe. Mugs will support feeding people through Leftover Love, and t-shirts will go to the yet-to-be-chosen second charity. If you have ideas, please do leave them in the comments!

Look for an updated page where all the charity merch will be collated sometime before the end of January, hopefully!

ICYMI, A Third Kind of Madness is officially a FINALIST in the Indie Ink Awards!

ATKOM is a finalist in FOUR categories:

  • This Book Made Me Hungry/Thirsty
  • Writing the Future We Need: Bisexual or Biromantic Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: LGBTQ+ Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: Trans or Nonbinary Representation

I am extremely proud and also humbled by the thought that readers voted to put my exploration of magic-triggered obsession with a nervous and quirky enby protagonist into these categories. Y’all, only 10 books from a WIDE selection make it to this stage. That’s HUGE.

Now it’s up to the judges to read all of their assigned books and decide what they think. I thank all of you who supported ATKOM in the contest and otherwise, and I’ll keep you updated as I learn more! It will be a while before we know for sure, but even making it to this round is such an honor.

A Small Light in the Darkness is open for paperback preorders and ARC requests!

You heard it here first! After the successful cover reveal of ASLID went so well, I busted tail and got the preorder page up for paperbacks. I should have e-book preorders up by the end of this week as well. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that my paperback preorders always come with an assortment of cool goodies, making it a whole vibe that goes along with the story. [Famously the packages for In Sleep You Know came with representatives of some of the gifts that Merrick was given. And tea, there’s always tea!]

This time I’m going to put together something cool for folks who preorder the e-book, as well! It’s another “stay tuned” announcement, because I want to make sure I have everything together to make a Very Cool and Enticing Announcement about it.

Also, if you are a booktok person, a blogger, or book reviewer and would like an ARC copy, I have the form for you! If you’d like to be on my street team and help with honest reviews on sites like Goodreads, The Storygraph, and the like, as well as getting the word out, that’s the form for you to fill out too. I don’t have the release date set in stone yet – I was going for the end of January but as you can see we’re AT the end of January and I am not ready… so Spring 2026 it is.

Before I go, I wanted to remind y’all that in this time of strife and uncertainty, soft and welcoming places to spend some time and share community are extremely valuable. And as I’m on the committee of Strong Women–Strange Worlds, I’d be remiss if I didn’t spend a moment talking about how their twice-monthly, free virtual QuickReads event offers that. SW-SW features six women and nonbinary authors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in 8 minute segments in their QuickReads, and you can often find well-known authors alongside new authors who are ready to be added to your list of favorites. I never fail to come away with additions to my TBR list!

QuickReads happen every First Friday and Third Thursday and are always free to attend on Zoom. We’re also expanding our offerings via YouTube to include a podcast and QuickReads remixes. You can also find past QuickReads there as well!

Our next QuickRead is happening on February 6th, 2026 at 12 noon Eastern, and features authors Gita Ralleigh, Lisa Morton, Minerva Cerridwen, Melissa Widmaier, Rachel Handley, and Victoria Goddard. You can register for this QuickRead and other upcoming ones at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/strong-women-strange-worlds-33460611105

Are there other good things happening in 2026? There ARE But my blog post is getting long and I think I’d like to save some things for later, so I can keep spreading some joy when we need it most. Thank you as always for taking this journey with me, friends, faebies, and friends-to-be.

Indie Ink Awards 2025 Nominations!

A Third Kind of Madness

Once again, I’m blown away by the support of readers for my work: THANK YOU. I was just notified that A Third Kind of Madness was nominated for a GIANT list of categories in the 2025 WriteHive Indie Ink Awards.

  • Best book cover and cover artist
  • Best friendship
  • Best light read
  • Best morally gray character
  • This Book Made Me Hungry/Thirsty
  • Wittiest character, Writing the Future We Need: Bisexual or Biromantic Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: Gay or Lesbian Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: LGBTQ+ Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: Mental Health Representation
  • Writing the Future We Need: Trans or Nonbinary Representation

What I’m most proud of are the Writing the Future We Need nominations. Thank you for seeing me, my story, and my characters so well.

Voting opens on December 15th at https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025 and I’d be honored if you voted for A Third Kind of Madness.

Story Order: How to Read Stories of the Eleriannan

A Third Kind of Madness Cast A Shadow Of Doubt In Sleep You Know Reading

“Dear Christiane, 

You have multiple books/stories in your Eleriannan series! It’s not clear to me how this works; can you help?”

You bet I can!

Let me break it down for you, with lots of details about what each story is and where it falls in the timeline.

First thing you need to know is that all the stories can be read independently from each other. There are no cliffhangers, but reading them out of order will reveal some plot points from previous stories, so be aware. I’ve tried very hard to make sure that you won’t feel lost if you read them out of publication or chronological order.

As of October 2025 are currently these titles:

  • Escaping the Dreamland [#.5]
    • Events happen well before ISYK
    • Tells the story of how Aisling came to be, 1st person
    • Short story
    • Available with subscription to my mailing list
  • In Sleep You Know, A Story of the Eleriannan [#1]
    • First in the series
    • Introduces you to many of the characters
    • Told mostly following Merrick, 3rd person
    • Draws inspiration from various Faerie mythologies and folklore as well as Child Ballads
    • Novel length, stands alone
    • Set in a, um, slightly different version of Baltimore
    • Soundtrack
  • Cast a Shadow of Doubt, Stories of the Eleriannan [#2]
    • Second in series
    • Tells the stories of Lucee’s rise to leadership and Camlin’s attempt at redemption
    • Introduces the Mealladhan and Emmaline
    • 3rd person, mostly following Lucee
    • Features more Baltimore culture, including big summer art festivals
    • Novel length, stands alone but is even better paired with ISYK
    • Soundtrack
  • A Third Kind of Madness, A Story of the Eleriannan [#3]
    • Third in series
    • Introduces Denny and Peri as well as Denny’s art collective, the Ants, and new Elementals
    • 1st person, told through Denny
    • If you’re a fan of Karsten, they are a prominent character
    • Art scene, farmers markets, and the Mount Vernon neighborhood are featured
    • Novel length, stands alone
    • Soundtrack

Coming in 2026:

  • Eleriannan #4 [as yet untitled]
    • Fourth in series
    • Centers on Emmaline and her struggle to integrate into The Grimshaw while discovering the depths of her powers
    • Introduces some new Grimshaw characters, especially some of the Arswyd and Ettir, an Eoten
    • 3rd person, mostly following Emmaline
    • Want to find out why the ArDonnath are so nasty? Here’s your chance!
    • Novel length
    • Soundtrack

If you have further questions about any of the Eleriannan books, you can always ask here! Also check out the Fae Directory and my series The Magic Between Us for more insight about the characters and how they interact with each other. 

I should probably mention that I have an unrelated book that is also set in Baltimore coming out in 2026. It’s a speculative fiction near-future story called A Small Light in the Darkness, and it focuses on two characters: 

  • Tryst, a lonely and longing poetic soul who can’t seem to make a “true” connection with someone who can satisfy her longing for something deeper
  • Fo, mysterious and thoughtful with a multitude of secrets and a deep need to connect even though they are scared of the emotions that brings

Together, they unravel the unknown aspects of Fo’s past, revealing a terrible accident with an experiment gone wrong, the drawbacks of mind enhancement, and a secret that goes much deeper and darker than either of them had imagined at the start. 

Recommended if you like stories about transhumanism, and/or with human-computer interaction, romantic subplots, connecting with strangers, poetic prose, science gone bad.

A Map of the Eleriannan

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A Third Kind of Madness Cast A Shadow Of Doubt Fun In Sleep You Know

Have you wondered where in Baltimore that one scene took place? You know, the fight scene at ArtPark or where Denny met Dorcha or that club where The Drawback played their first show?

Wonder no more! Here is a map that will show you all those locations and more! Please keep in mind that because the Baltimore where the Eleriannan and Gwyliannan live is laid over the one most of us live in, you may see something very different on this map than what is actually there for Merrick. Luccee, Denny and friends.

If you click through to the page where the map is hosted you’ll see a clickable navigation list. You can also access it here through the icon at the top left. If there’s a location I haven’t added yet that you want to see, just let me know.

I hope you enjoy this exploration of both mundane and magical Baltimore!


Writing the [Mostly] Real World

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A Third Kind of Madness Cast A Shadow Of Doubt In Sleep You Know On Creating

One of the things I always mention about my stories is that they’re set in Baltimore, MD, USA. I was born, raised, and lived a chunk of my life in Baltimore. It’s a vibrant and delightfully weird city, oft-maligned; it definitely has problems but also has some great people and energy. It’s been struggling to find it’s footing for a while and has slowly been shifting in personality – yes, cities have personalities – and growth is rarely easy, which can make the more skeptical folks think everything’s a mess, when really, it’s change happening. All of these things make for a compelling backdrop and character to use in my stories!

Also, even though I know the city well, writing about it has allowed me to learn even more beyond what I’ve known and experienced about Charm City, especially since it has changed a lot in my lifetime. I can’t just count on memories to fill out a scene, I either have to double check myself against what’s the truth now, or make a conscious choice to warp reality a little to fit my vision.

So now that I’ve said that…

If you’re from these parts, you might have guessed or recognized some of the locations I haven’t outright mentioned in the books. I name the neighborhood of Hampden, where Lucee and Cullen have a lovely date and then get into some trouble, and that’s pretty much exactly as it is currently in the non-book world. The Round Falls area also is the same, and that bit is actually based on a true experience I had there. The community garden that Vali does a mural for doesn’t exist outside the books, but that neighborhood around Greenmount Cemetery is pretty accurate otherwise. The thoughts that Vali mentions about changes in the neighborhood, positive and negative, are valid. Wyman Park Dell is more or less the same in both versions of Baltimore. I describe the building known as The Belvedere as characters pass by it, and I talk about Mount Vernon Place in great detail as it’s a big part of the setting in A Third Kind of Madness.

Writing about the farmers market under the JFX was one of my favorite parts in ATKOM, by the way. I’ve had people ask me if that’s a real market, and how could it be held under an expressway? Folks, it’s real, it is awesome, and you should definitely visit it if you’re in town. I actually used to vend there, selling my handspun yarn and handmade products!

And then there are places I invented completely, like the Frisky Bean. The Bean gets it’s believable feel from my deep experience with that kind of coffee house, but sadly there isn’t a place I can point out in the Mount Vernon neighborhood that matches that vibe. House Mirabilis and Tiennan House don’t have specific inspirations, but Baltimore has plenty of old houses that could stand in. The Compound has an address [sort of, I don’t really obscure where it’s located] and if you look it up using online maps, you can get a visual for the outside, at least. The interior layout, I based on judging from the outside and using my experiences from being inside similar buildings, with my own whimsical additions of course.

Some spots what I’d call book-analogues to actual places that exist, but under different names. Club Marcada on Charles Street is an amalgam of a couple of different clubs I’ve known, but it’s absolutely set in the same block as Club Charles and The Depot. [And The Depot certainly gets some quiet references in the description of Marcada, IYKYK] The Maithe also could be put in this category, but I think it needs it’s own, for reasons I’ll explain below.

The Maithe is special [duh]

First off, let’s discuss the one very specific thing I changed about my version of Baltimore: Park Street.

There is no Park Street in Mount Vernon.

There is a Park Avenue, and yes, I know someone from here might read the books and think “Oh, Xi doesn’t know what they’re talking about, they messed that up.” Nope, sorry, that was a deliberate choice that will mean nothing to people not from Baltimore but to locals [and me] it signals that we are stepping outside of the “real” world and into a different version of the city. Basically that entire street, which happens to house the Frisky Bean, Denny’s studio, and The Maithe, is a magical corridor that lies just slightly off from the world we move in. So if you’re in Mount Vernon and you happen to be walking down Park Avenue, you’re just a sidestep away from where so much of the story takes place!

How do you shift over to Park Street instead? Well that is a good question… isn’t it? 😉

Trivia point: my very first apartment, of which I have no end of ridiculous tales, was on Park Ave. in Mount Vernon. Living there and observing a lot of the odd, amusing things that happened regularly was part of the inspiration for setting the story in that area.

That “slightly off” mirror world, the Baltimore that could be if we sidestepped through the veil unexpectedly? That’s where you can walk from the Bean and spy magical graffiti in an alleyway before you come to the end of the street and the great building that dominates it: The Maithe. Yes, The Maithe is inspired by a building I know, The Brexton, now known as a hotel. No, it’s not the same in this world…as far as I know. It doesn’t house a great, seemingly unending forest in its center courtyard. Indeed, there’s no courtyard at all, though in my opinion there should be! But the staircase? That’s there, and the triangular shape, and the towers on each end. I think The Maithe probably deserves its own post, because I have personal anecdotes I could share as well as a lot of background about how I envisioned the layout inside, which is quite different than the building it’s based on. And as time’s gone on, The Maithe has revealed secrets about itself and those are fun to talk about, too.

I keep promising a video tour of the Eleriannan’s version of Baltimore, and I promise it’s coming soon! The weather’s been too hot and unsettled for your pal Christiane, but as soon as I’m feeling up to it, you’ll have it. Part of the joy of writing these stories is sharing my city with you through my eyes and imagination, and can’t wait for you to see the places that inspire me.

More to come, including in-depth details about The Maithe!

New Mugs, Straight from The Maithe’s Library to You

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A Third Kind of Madness Merch

Getting coffee from the coffee bar in The Maithe’s library is always an experience: first off, it might be coffee, it might be tea, or cocoa… or even a comforting broth in your mug. And the mugs themselves? Let’s just say that they are an eclectic collection and quite representative of the personality of the “sentient, triangular stack of bricks” as Sousa lovingly calls his home.

Denny finding a seemingly endless selection of odd and silly slogan mugs is one of my favorite funny bits from A Third Kind of Madness, and I wanted to bring a couple of my favorites to life for myself. And since I was making them for me, why not offer them to you for your own library coffee bars or whatever your [probably] non-sentient home has going on?

Virtually Indestructible, just like Denny.

The tardigrade, that is, not the mug itself. Don’t use it in fights or to try and scoop up water elementals, that’s a foolish idea!

A white mug, the kind you might find at a diner or ramshackle coffee shop – not the Frisky Bean, of course – with an illustration of a tardigrade and the text “Virtually Indestructible” on both sides. Designed by me, take that as you will, I Am Not A Graphic Designer.

You can purchase this through Bonfire, a print on demand business that I like and use often. I make a small amount per sale, you get a cute mug!

Go Juice: second favorite beverage at The Maithe

I don’t think anyone would argue that the most popular drink at The Maithe is Sousa and Sheridan’s home brew. [At least if you ask them, anyway.] The second most popular bev in house would be coffee.

No one’s exactly sure where the “go juice” moniker originated but suspicions are split between Vali and Merrick. Either way, The Maithe liked the term and immortalized it on one of its white mugs. Or in this case, I did, putting the design on both sides as carefully as possible, because remember: I Am Not A Graphic Designer.

You can purchase this through Bonfire, a print on demand business that I like and use often. I make a small amount per sale, you get a cute mug!

If you’ve got questions, comments, or ideas, send them my way! The Maithe needs more mugs and so do you!

A Third Kind of Madness Launch Party Replay

A Third Kind of Madness

Did you miss my launch party on May 1st? I’ve got the recording up on YouTube, finally! You can see me babble about the plot and new characters in the story, as well as the ones you know and love. I also discuss what inspired the title and concept and I promise you won’t guess what it is.
You’ll learn more about the soundtrack and best of all – I read a selection from the new book!

You can watch it here or on my YouTube channel. ⬇️

Three book covers against a graffiti backdrop

Seven Things About What I Write

A Third Kind of Madness Cast A Shadow Of Doubt In Sleep You Know Writing

For no reason except that I like to talk about my characters, settings, and themes, I’ve put together this [hardly exhaustive] list of things you can find in my stories.

Look, it’s a list!

  1. My stories center around Baltimore.
    Why? Because I’m from here. The city and its surroundings are a place filled with beauty and quirkiness that are often ignored in favor of focusing on the darker aspects, ones that get a disproportionate amount of screen time on TV shows and in movies. Those things are there, but it’s not all there is to Baltimore by far, and part of my goal is to rebalance things by telling hopeful stories set in a place that deserves them. Also, B’more has so many hidden treasures and interesting people. It’s the perfect place for a community of Fae to live without much notice.
    Most of the places I mention in my books are real places, or based on real ones. I’m planning a video tour of Fae Baltimore at some point soon!
  2. My stories are hopeful. As I mentioned above, I write books where the characters – no matter what they’ve been through – tend to work toward positive change and helping each other. There’s room for forgiveness and transformation here, something that reflects my own stance on life but also serves as an option for folks who are tired of the preponderance of grim, heavy stories out there and want something that encourages them to look at the world with fresh eyes. I don’t shy away from tough and painful topics, but I address them with small, positive steps that anyone – not just magic wielders – can take.
    It’s important for me to allow room for things like the possibility of redemption and the importance of community in these stories.
  3. My Fae characters are not inexplicable or confounding. In a lot of Faerie lore, the Fae are unpredictable, impossible to understand, without rhyme or reason to us mere mortals. In my stories, that’s not the case, or at least, not exactly the case,
    The closer that the Eleriannan and Gwyliannan live to mortals, the more they seem to be like us, with concerns and motivations that mortals can comprehend. The ones that are more difficult to parse are the older ones who have begun to separate themselves from the mortal world. And of course, there are beings like the Elementals, which not even the Fae can claim to understand.
    But one of the parts I love the most about writing my Fae is that despite being magical creatures who have lived well beyond the life span of the mortals they associate with now, they still struggle with emotions and relationships and maneuvering through the world around them. The magic they have solves some problems and creates others. They make plenty of mistakes, and also beneficial decisions. They are knowable – and loveable – because despite not being like us, they really are like us in all the ways that count.
  4. My characters care about taking care of the people and environment around them. There are plenty of social and environmental issues that are important to Baltimore that the characters address on a regular basis. Homelessness, racism, gentrification, pollution, poverty, environmental responsibility, justice, healthcare, class, and inequality are just some of the topics that characters touch on.
    They model helpful actions, too – especially Vali, an activist who puts her energy into using her magic to protect community projects and organizing cleanup sessions at the local waterways. The Gwyliannan contribute to their area by magically protecting the neighborhood from crime and other intrusions.
    I want to leave readers feeling like they can do more if they want and there’s a place for them out there with others who work towards positive goals.
  5. I like to refer to Faerie tropes and give quiet shout-outs to stories that came before mine. I bury references to all the lore, ballads, poems, and classic literature about the Fae that I grew up with, as well as nods to works by more contemporary authors that I’ve loved, throughout my stories. Sometimes it’s very subtle, other times quite overt if you’re familiar. It’s both a tribute and a way of connecting my tales to the bigger collection of lore out there. Also, it’s fun!
  6. I make up my own creatures and lore. Eleriannan, Gwyliannan, and Grimshaw. The Lady of the City. The Nyxen, Ffyn, Arswyd, ArDonnath. Those all came from my own head, though of course with plenty of precedent from the classics mentioned previously. I feel like a thread of truth runs through every interpretation of various magical beings and creatures, and mine are just one version of things that can feel both unique and familiar all at once.
  7. My characters are a little too real! I’ve been told time and again that they feel like people that my readers know and love like old friends. And to be truthful, they feel like that to me, too, even the new ones that show up unbidden to take over my stories. [I’m looking at you, Denny.]
    I’m often asked if they’re modeled after people I know and the answer is both yes and no. Certain people definitely had some influence over the beginnings of some of the folks in my stories, but once I started writing them they began to get minds and wills of their own and often will surprise me with some of the choices and directions they take.
    It’s quite delightful.
    Because of that, they get deeper and more complicated as the books progress, and that makes them much more interesting to work with. They show up in my dreams as often as they do on the page, and I’m fully expecting to round a corner one day and run headfirst into Lucee or Merrick or Denny.

There’s actually a lot more I could say about what I write – and why – but I’ll leave it at seven for now. What’s most important is that these books are intensely personal to me, and filled with details that I feel good about. I hope you enjoy them too.

Representation isn’t a bunch of boxes to check

A Third Kind of Madness Cast A Shadow Of Doubt Characters In Sleep You Know On Creating

When people ask me about my books and characters, they* sometimes talk about representation. “Why did you choose Merrick [my first book’s MC] to be a white guy from an obviously well-off family, but Lucee [second book’s MC] is a Black woman? You’re not either of these things.”
[*this is usually other white people asking me this, right]

Well, yeah. I don’t have to be represented by any of my characters in order to write about them and their lived experiences.

Being a writer requires a lot of skills. Some of the most important, in my opinion, have to do with empathy and understanding how people and society works. You can have an amazingly tight and engaging plot, but if you don’t write your characters well, the story will fall flat.

No one would blink if I wrote all my protagonists as white straight women. Even if they were substantially younger or older than me, more or less attractive, smarter or duller, or came from a very different socio-economic background – people wouldn’t comment or question it.

But the thing is, the world doesn’t just look like me. [despite some people constantly defaulting to white as the standard]

Representation isn’t a bunch of boxes to check off. Diversity isn’t something you add because you’re “supposed to.” It should be the standard, because that’s what the world looks like – especially if you’re someone who looks like me, a “standard” that came from an unbalanced worldview built on privilege and racism. The default isn’t white. Nor is it able-bodied, neurotypical, cisgendered, or heterosexual.

My characters, magical or not, represent the reality around them: people from different backgrounds, economic statuses, communities, and cultures, all living their everyday lives. Entangled, at odds or in love, working together or on opposite sides, Fae or mortal or something else – they all have a place in my stories, just as they do in the world outside of them.

What kind of writer would I be if I only focused on characters that looked like me, or had my lived experiences? Not a very interesting or realistic one, in my opinion.

Merrick is a white guy from an upper middle class family, smart enough but a bit spoiled, and able to live a directionless life because of that. It shapes why he makes the decisions that he does when he’s given the choice to be a part of something bigger, and gives us the opportunity to see him grow as a person.
Lucee is a Black woman who has leaned on her friendship with Merrick in the past as a kind of buffer between her overly controlling father and her own wishes for her life. She comes into her own power and ends up taking on a leadership role despite believing that she’s not good enough to do so. Her battle to overcome her low self-esteem is one I think a lot of people can relate to.
Denny struggles with deep self-worth issues and feeling comfortable in their own skin as a non-binary person. Because of this, they’ve allowed themself to be controlled by someone who wants to use them for their own benefit, and a good deal of their struggle is learning how to break free from that situation and mindset.

I think all these characters are relatable and bring different things to the table. That’s not even touching on Vali, who went through the foster system and was unhoused before coming to The Maithe, or Emmaline, a disabled woman with a debilitating chronic illness, or Aisling and Camlin, both Fae who faced rejection by their people for not being “pure” enough. Or Peri, who only wants to be valued for who she is, not what her powers can do for others.

I’ve known all these people. I want their stories in my world to be amplified. That’s why I write what I do.

[images are from Picrew and just for fun visualizations of the various characters]

Meet the Characters: Denny and Peri

A Third Kind of Madness Characters

With A Third Kind of Madness due to be released on May 1st 2024, I thought it was high time to bring back the Meet The Characters series and introduce you to some of the new folk you’ll be getting to know in this story!

Denny is our main character and narrator: shy, unsure, talented but with self-esteem so low that they allow themselves to be bullied and used by the leader of their art collective in ways that keeps their personality and photography career in check. Denny describes themself as awkward and uncomfortable with who they are, and at the beginning of the story this is quite evident. With sandy, tousled hair, freckles, and a boyish, rumpled appearance, Denny tends to fade to the back and hide behind their ever-present camera.

Denny is a wistful character when we meet them. They are non-binary and desire to be seen as androgynous, but tend to wear clothes that allow them to blend into the background, something they are very good at. They hate where their life is going but seem unable to take steps to make changes or break away from the art collective they belong to and is holding them back. The only things they feel really strongly about are their photography, and going regularly to the local coffee shop, where their secret crush is a regular.

That crush is Peri, who is beautiful and bubbly in a way that fascinates Denny to the point that they’re almost obsessed with seeing her daily. Denny observes that Peri is thoughtful and coquettish in turn, but never expects to catch her attention.

Which is why they are shocked when Peri introduces herself one day, compliments Denny’s work, then asks them out on a date.

Peri establishes quickly that she moves in the art world and knows many artists, attending their shows and even owning some of their art. She’s pretty in a feminine and flirty way, often wearing dresses or blouses that show off a little of her skin. One of Peri’s biggest complaints is that she’s often forced to fill a manic pixie dream girl role in her relationships – people want her for what she can do for them, rather than what they can bring to each other.

This becomes a real issue later in the story…

That warmth takes over my entire body as I hurriedly flip to the next shot. I must have clicked too many times because I find myself staring at the moment that Peri and I kissed, captured forever in an awkward angle that only seems to add to the charm of the photo. It’s obvious that it was taken like a selfie, but somehow, that doesn’t make the shot look amateurish. I guess that owes a lot to—once again—the crispness of focus in the photo. Printed out at the right size, it would look like you could reach into it and pull us out fully formed.
“This is exactly as I see you,” Peri murmurs.
I realize that we’re holding hands, and I have no idea when that happened. She’s leaning against me, and I suddenly feel lightheaded.
She’s right, though. I look in the image just like how I see myself in my head, how I want others to see me: a pretty femme boy, a handsome boyish girl, an androgyne so comfortable in their skin that they don’t care about what anyone else thinks. I just am, in that moment. And that comfort, which is something quite new to me—that was Peri’s doing. From the second Peri first spoke to me, she made it quite clear that she not only accepted who I am but also liked it. She liked me.

In the photo, all her attention is focused on me, not just her lips pressed to mine, but her hand on my face, her body turned in that cramped space to face me fully. Yet again, the sparkling energy is visible, but this time it seems to surround both of us and if I look at the image in the right way, I’d swear it was originating from the point where we were touching. I look at Peri, and I know my eyes must be filled with questions because she nods solemnly.

Meet the rest of the characters in this ongoing series, then order the books now!