Senmarria is not our world — its history, peoples, and conflicts were built from scratch. But no imagination exists in a vacuum, and mine is shaped by real histories, real experiences, and real stories. I've tried to hold that awareness carefully as I built this world, and I'll keep holding it as it grows.

My characters are diverse across gender expression, skin tone, religion, socioeconomic background, disability, neurodivergence, and mental illness. I am a white author, and while there are characters in this book with darker skin tones, it is not my place to write with authority about the experience of racism or its generational weight.

Disability, domestic violence, neurodivergence, and the aftermath of abuse are not research topics for me — they are parts of my own life that I've carried into this story. That kind of specificity matters to me, and I hope it shows in the work.

Sexuality is something I write about as an insider. My queer identity is deeply important to me, and that shapes how I approach these characters. Most of the main cast of The Truth-Teller's Bargain are queer — and yet, like in real life, that isn't always the most prominent thing about them or their story at any given moment. The central relationship in this book is between a cis man and a cis woman, and I made that choice consciously. Queerness doesn't have to be visible in every pairing to be present in a story.

Mental illness is also territory I write from personal experience. Alethea's CPTSD, anxiety, and history of abuse are drawn from things I know intimately. Other characters carry their own inner lives and struggles too — sometimes without a diagnosis that maps cleanly onto our language, because Senmarria doesn't always have the same words we do.

I am always open to feedback. If you have questions or want to talk about any of this, my contact information is below.