Their most important duty was keeping the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta burning. If it went out, Rome was in trouble. I was reading about these women in the middle of building an imaginary empire when it occurred to me: I could see it. If I were Roman, if those were my options, I might have signed on.
Read MoreYou shouldn't read this book. Not if you're reading it because you know me. Not if you're reading it to be nice. I love that impulse—genuinely—but I'd rather be honest with you upfront than have you finish it and spend energy being kind about something that was never going to be your thing.
Read MoreIt wasn’t really about the title. It was about how powerless I felt inside a system that didn’t care about good intentions, preparation, or effort. It only cared whether I had learned how to ask for the right thing in the right way.
Read More“I wasn’t chasing a plot. I was following a feeling. Heavy. Complicated. Rooted in identity and betrayal. The idea wasn’t just a character—it was a world. Once it started, I couldn’t stop writing.”
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