Okay, you guys. This is not a drill. I’m glad to announce I’m officially back on the blog.

I dropped off of the face of the planet without much of an explanation, and I’m sorry about that. My Patreon tribe still saw posts, art, and heard my chancing accent via podcast episodes, but I just didn’t have the energy to post anywhere else. If we’re honest though, I probably would’ve abandoned Patreon during this whole thing, but I felt like I owed those peeps something because they do so much to support me.

I didn’t even announce the hiatus as I’d always done in the past. Ashe wrote about it on Instagram and took over all posting and content photography after that. (I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, but Ashe is a freaking rock star!)

I don’t want to go into too much detail. All of this still feels too personal and I’m trying to make sense of stuff I didn’t know about myself. But at the same time, I felt so alone while going through this whole thing, and if I can help anyone feel seen for just a moment, it would be worth opening up a little.

So, here is the shortened version.

My mental health went to hell last year and I entered the longest and most intense depressive slump of my life. I acknowledged it to an extent–hence the hiatus–but didn’t admit how bad it got. Even to myself. I finally reached a scary low around the end of 2021, and couldn’t ignore it any longer.

I saw a doctor, who did a series of tests, and he diagnosed physical issues that were worsening my mental health, and also diagnosed another mental illness. I hate calling it that, because it’s a brain thing, but this is the easiest term for the sake of simplicity.

I’ve been using medication for all of the above since late December and I can finally feel a difference, so yay. At the same time, I realise that this is just the beginning of this journey. There’s still a lot of healing to do, a lot of learning to understand my brain, and what seems like daily acceptance of all of me. Some days are really easy and some days suck, but I’m trying.

Of course, going into hiding for like 6 months isn’t great for staying in touch with people. 😆

The plan is to ease back into an online presence, but I won’t follow rigid posting schedules or do anything that causes too much pressure. Honestly, I can’t go back to that dark place I visited last year. It scared the shit out of me and I will avoid it at all costs.

So for now, I’m willing to commit to two things:

• More frequent posts on Instagram.

Instagram is perfect for when I want to look at pretty art and support my fellow authors. The feed is curated to my tastes and the algorithm knows which suggested posts I’d like. And though that very algorithm has caused me so much anxiety in the past, I feel like I’ve reached a place where I can function without having to worry about how many hashtags I’ve used or what the optimal posting time is. I hope to be able to post at least one new thing a week, or maybe just pop on to gush over everyone else’s lovely feeds.

Meanwhile, Ashe is still posting over on my art Insta, LuminLore. This is a more business-y feed, where we showcase my art and books.

• My newsletter.

This is the easiest and most convenient way for me to stay in touch with you lovely people. You don’t even have to leave your own inbox, so it’s totally possible to grab a cuppa and read in your robe and slippers. The newsletter is a once a month thing, except during those times when I have bigger news to share (but it’s never spammy, I promise).

And because I really want you to join my absolutely amazing newsletter family–seriously, these peeps were constantly sending me virtual hugs and chicken soup while I was away–I’m offering a pretty cool signup bonus (for a limited time).

Yep, you read that right. The entire novel. There will also be some additional sign up bonuses along the way, like colouring pages, or printable art.

Sign up here:

Of course, the Insta and newsletter commitment doesn’t mean I won’t ever blog or visit the other social media platforms. I’ll do my best to drop in every so often, but I can’t promise you, say, two posts per week. At least not until I’ve progressed in my journey.

I’m going to leave it there for now. Thank you so much for reading, friend. I hope to connect with you via newsletter or Insta, too!

Yolandie.