pray on the way up

"I hate female characters. because i was Abused. by My Mom."

"so I can't hate black people even though one bullied me for no reason in 2nd grade? i have trauma"

"i used to be an incel on 4chan hahaha crazy phase we all go through!"

i love your prose and the way you craft your stories. ive always been curious to learn if there were any particular books or authors that you found to have inspired your writing. are there any you found to be influential?

hi Naomi!! 🧙‍♀️ thank you for the lovely question.

my number one inspiration will always be Ray Bradbury. these days I don't seek out any male authors not already known to and liked by me, so this is high praise coming from me. he writes in such a succinct way, low on metaphor but still high on symbolism and theme; I have definitely developed my own style with him as a guide.

two authors I discovered over the past few years who have styles similar to mine and who now inspire me are Eve Babitz and Margaret Millar. again, I favor straightforward styles regardless of genre (I wouldn't say he influences my style, but GRRM writes this way too) and they both write that way. Millar wrote noir and Babitz wrote autofiction and they couldn't be more different in general, but I find inspiration in both as to the stark concept of their prose. when the occasional Millar metaphor hits, it lands.