before the lotus blooms is here.
After several years of development and setback after setback, the second book in the Tales of Angaride series—and my second published novel entirely—Before the Lotus Blooms is published and available to read and purchase!
I’ve been working on celebrating myself and my accomplishments lately, and trying to combat the habit of downplaying them, and damn: I am so proud of this book.
If we flash back to when I published Dance on the Sun in 2023, I had massive dreams of virality, of getting noticed on booktok or striking luck with Facebook groups or Instagram. I also had more realistic dreams of maybe selling a few copies, having a handful of readers, people outside my immediate circle who had no connection to me previously. I look back on my publish debut with a bittersweetness; for those of you who did pick up a copy of DOTS on it’s initial release, you meant absolutely everything to me (and still do) but I also can’t deny the disappointment I carried with me into late 2025.
I think rationally I knew that my debut work as an indie author, a complete unknown publishing under a pen name and only allowing four select people from my personal life even know that I was publishing a book, would likely not be widely received or reviewed. But knowing something and separating that from the feelings of such an intense build to release day for there to be a rather loud and uncomfortable silence on the other side is incredibly difficult, and probably for my personality type, impossible.
However, after somehow pleasing the gods of the instagram algorithm, I began to gain some traction while posting tidbits about my upcoming work, Before the Lotus Blooms. At the time, I had a new, pessimistic outlook on the eventual launch. I assumed no one would see it and no one would care, and that maybe writing was a silly hobby to be sinking my time, energy, and money into. I started to doubt my skill, and the passion was wilting a little. But the flame wouldn’t go out. I needed to write this book. I needed to publish it. I needed to prove to myself that I could finish another project, and fight against those negative thoughts.
The first few connections I made with other indie authors through instagram really spurred me on to keep going. And now, after publishing my second book that has already been so well received by early readers, I am seeing that Dance on the Sun is also finally getting its flowers.
Many artists, writers, and creators will tell you that they do what they do because they love to do it, but I frequently find that the more I talk to others that it’s normal to experience the intrinsic desire to have your art perceived, to know that it brings some kind of emotion to others. I do write for myself. But on the other side of that coin, I want people to find my books and fall in love with the stories, fall in love with the characters, and walk away from reading them feeling a lightness of heart, a warmth. Having more visibility online and an uptick in word-of-mouth reviews from my author friends, my editor, and my partner has led to a successful launch for BTLB and has positively increased the readership of DOTS, too.
There’s an acknowledgement section at the back of BTLB, but I wanted to mention my thanks-yous here as well; thank you to my beta readers, Byrd and Carrie, for pointing out the highs and lows of the story, to my editor, Karen, for your fantastic and careful polish, and to the writing community on Instagram and Bluesky for encouraging me to keep going on days when it’s tough. To my brother and designer, D, for creating beautiful covers and graphics to complement the books, and to my life-partner, A, thank you for always pushing me to do the dang thing. I may not have ever published if it weren’t for you. Thank you to Sominix for the three commissioned illustrations of Yuzeharu and Jaeyun, for bringing them to life with such skill and gentleness.
A special thank you is owed to my sister, R, who was deeply involved with the inception of Jaeyun and Yuzeharu and the backdrop of Satesaru, who helped me weave together their lore and connections, gave me precious and priceless feedback and ideas to help make the narrative better, and who challenged me to write a book she might enjoy. I know this one still isn’t quite your cup of tea, but I’ll get there someday.
And should you, reader, decide to pick up a copy of either Before the Lotus Blooms, or Dance on the Sun, or both; thank you. Your support means everything, and I’m incredibly grateful to know that any of my writing was read by your eyes, heard in your thoughts, and hopefully felt by your heart.
There are links to all platforms for BTLB here.
Happy Release Day to Before the Lotus Blooms, and happy reading!
