"Trigger warning: Mentions of bullying, the r wordThey tell you that a story needs an ending to be wo..."

"Middle school is a special kind of hell. It’s that awkward phase where everyone is trying to find so..."

"If you look at my life strictly on paper—the CP diagnosis, the "quiet" whispered in sterile rooms, t..."

"If you’ve ever wanted to witness a Masterclass in human awkwardness, you don’t need to go to a comed..."

"While public school often felt like a battlefield where I had to keep my guard up, and home was the..."

"That’s when my family and I walked through the doors of what would eventually become our "forever ch..."

"While the "Forever Bench" at church gave me a place to belong in the physical world, my writing gave..."

"They focused on the milestones I might miss, the surgeries I might need, and the limitations of a ri..."

"While the medical world was busy categorizing me as a "case study" and the school system was trying..."

"While the story of Wicked gave me a mirror, the music gave me a heartbeat. I’ve played the soundtrac..."

"While my mom was the "thread" holding the tapestry together and the Glinda to my Elphaba, my dad was..."

"Then came my brothers who I will call ‘Carlton’ and ‘Jared’, and suddenly, the "medical mystery" had..."

"Back in 2024, right before I became a Wicked fan, I finally felt ready to let someone into my sanctu..."

"If life has a sense of humor, it’s definitely a dark one. Most people go official on anniversaries o..."

""Halloween Ghost" faded into the background, I found myself back in my sanctuary, sitting with a fre..."

"In the world of publishing, a pen name is more than just a label on a book cover; it’s a persona. It..."

"If you’ve spent your entire life being the subject of serious medical hushed tones and "bless her he..."

"If you had told that third-grade girl with the forbidden notebook that one day she’d be pitching a s..."

"For a long time, it felt like my life was being directed by everyone else. Doctors directed my physi..."

"On August 27, 2002, a story began that wasn't supposed to have a long table of contents. The medical..."

"If there is one thing that can make a somewhat, kind of but not really professional writer forget ho..."

"If my life were a Broadway show, this is where the orchestra would swell, the lights would begin to..."

"When people speak my name—Selena, or my professional shield, Selena Hope—I want them to smile. I wan..."

"Dear Reader, If you’ve made it to this page, it means you’ve walked a mile in my shoes—and you know..."

"Consider this an epilogue of sorts. I’d love to tell you that I meticulously mapped out every milest..."