Welcome! An Introduction to Avelina

Hello, and welcome to my little corner of Heartleaf Press!

This has been a wild year for me, full of twists and turns. As a newcomer to the East Coast, I can’t even begin to explain what a delight the turn of the seasons has been for me. I’ve taken such inspiration from the subtle beginning shift toward autumn colors and the changes in the birds, insects, and other animals I have been tracking. I’ve had a longtime aspiration of writing a cozy novel about a nature guardian witch, so maybe being surrounded by such a beautiful environment will inch that one closer to the front of the project list!

To tell you a little bit more about myself, I’m a writer who takes any possible excuse to be outside; you can frequently find me at parks or on forest trails with my laptop, feverishly trying to finish a chapter before rain or fog forces me to retreat inside. I’m also a trail runner, and the time spent jogging on those forest paths is when I get most of my best thinking done. Tragically, running for ideas and running for a new personal best speed sometimes seem to be mutually exclusive! Have I occasionally tripped and fallen headfirst into a gooseberry bush because I got too distracted thinking about a particularly thorny plot problem? Maybe…

Since finishing up the Moonrise series, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying working on my next project, a retelling of the classic myth of Eros and Psyche. It’s set in a city that’s loosely analogous to ancient Carthage, which has sent me down some absolutely fascinating research trails about daily life in that society. I’ve always loved learning about history, but I feel that often when we’re exploring that subject, we lose sight of the importance of the lives of the average person, of their passions and loves and struggles. I love being able to combine research with storytelling, and I hope to be able to bring what I learn to life for my readers and totally immerse them in the lives and worlds of my characters!

I hope that you enjoyed reading, and that you drop by periodically to see what me and my fellow Heartleaf authors are working on! And in the meantime, may your autumn be full of warmth and magic!

Avelina