beautiful interviewer asked, her smile warm, thoug

her. The room smelled faintly of coffee and fresh daisies. "Umm... thi

. "On my fifth birthday, she bought me these tiny floral-covered journals. She called them my 'starter kit'

ds in school. I gave them fake names and described their drama in painful detail. I documented all my thoughts on Mom and D

r doubled over in hysterics bes

d from the room. "We had to move out of the house. We were packing - my dad, my broth

, every wild observation - and I swear, I heard my mom's laughter in the back of my mind." H

silence, a r

And the more I wrote, the more I realized I had a voice worth listening to. The res

ewer said softly, then smiled. "So, wh

company for any travel writer. The creative freedom, the reach, the culture - of ever

lightly, smile tight now. "Well..

d. "Sorry? Wha

the mic. "Don't worry. People still make it as

erviewer was wrapping things up. "And with that, we can call it a day. It wa

tically, still stuck

-

That

a hammock in Sri Lanka), the other about Tuscan cuisine (her answe

ircling back to tha

shb

ht about the jo

wonderful publishing company. Of everywhere I've worked, I haven'

not what the

do you

e still make it as i

f fla

she settled onto a quiet cement bench near the Arno River, the early evening breeze tugging at the hem of her coat. She pulle

she s

With her n

iting – Vivienne Moreau

art dr

st interview, "Wanderlust can't carry lazy writers. If they're not producing, they're replaceable." The podcast host as

ste

was now

the replies. Some were supportive. Many were cruel. Speculations, memes, jokes about her w

t spee

oice came through

ctically shouted. "I'm getting f

e, calm

to calm down! T

wasn't going to tell you because it would've crushed your confidence e

tight. "But she's talking about me publi

four months, Celeste. You ghosted the spring iss

r teeth. "I'm goin

now I haven't written a word in

lapped her forehead with her free pal

you back,"

ere for a long moment, lettin

why she wrote in

the way her mom's journals used to smell, th

ocial media, and this version of succe

ed to find h

e writer s

ose herself - and eve