Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a wonderful Sunday afternoon or morning, depending on when you’re reading this. Let’s dive right in! I had planned to write a “Tiers” update yesterday but got sidetracked with the party preparations, which, let me tell you, was a bit overwhelming given my social anxiety. It didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped, but that’s okay—I’m still working on it. Big events aren’t really my forte, but let’s get started with the update on my book!

About Tiers

For those unfamiliar, I’m writing a book titled Tiers, which follows a girl named Nurys as she navigates life while dealing with identity, family pressure, and strange feelings she can’t explain, she begins to realize some truths were never meant to stay buried. She and her fraternal twin sister, Renne, step into the world of Briarwood Hawthorne High. As Nurys enters this new environment, she begins to sense that something isn’t quite right. While grappling with these feelings, she discovers she’s a witch. I’m still refining the plot and developing my characters, and I should mention that I don’t have a formal writing background. I began working on this book when I was about 19, and I’ve even written blogs about three of my characters: Nurys, Renne, and Silas.

Currently, I have four chapters nearly complete, which three of the chapters are in Wattpad and Inkit. They’re still rough drafts, but the core ideas are there. As I don’t have a writing background, my story’s plot feels somewhat jumbled with various ideas. I’m proud to say I’ve written around 12,000 words so far, and I honestly didn’t expect to reach that milestone until the end of the year. I really hoping to finish about ten chapters by then, and if I achieve that, I’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment. I also believe that Tiers could potentially become a four-part series, as I often think big before narrowing down my ideas.

Social Media and Promotion

Aside from my book, I’ve been sharing a lot about Tiers on my social media. At first, I thought this would draw more eyes to my work, but I’m realizing that having a smaller following allows me to experiment without the pressure of scrutiny. Therefore, I’m considering pulling back on promoting Tiers on my social media platforms. I really want to focus on story development instead. I’ll continue to share updates on Honey Pages and share it on my YouTube channel here and there. I have three videos about it and the first three videos are a bit rocky, but they reflect my inspiration from shows and movies, like Hogwarts, Euphoria, Degrassi, and Wednesday. I’m trying to blend these influences into my writing style.

I’m also exploring Handmaid’s Tale for its unique narrative style, aiming to incorporate its storytelling techniques into Tiers. As of now, I have about eight characters, which may seem like a lot, but not all of them will appear in every book. For instance, Silas, Nurys and Renne will be the main characters in Book One, while Kai, Cecilia, and Luca will serve as supporting characters.

Character Insights

Many of my characters are still forming in my mind, but one, in particular—Kai Mikhail—has been emerging more vividly lately. I plan to dedicate a full blog post to him since he plays a significant role, especially in relation to Renne. I’m grappling with the idea of their potential relationship, as he keeps expressing a desire to be with her in my thoughts. However, I hesitate because Renne, as described in my previous blog post, is fiercely independent and aims to distance herself from her toxic household. I envision Kai as a character who respects that independence while also being critical of the elitism at their school, particularly in his dynamic with Silas, who he respects but doesn’t particularly like.

Writing Style and Updates

My writing style for Tiers leans into emotional, atmospheric storytelling with layered characters, hidden tension, and a touch of mystery. I love blending raw inner thoughts, family dynamics, and moody small-town energy into a story that feels cinematic and deeply personal.

I typically post about Tiers or Honey Inks on Mondays, but I’ve decided to switch to a more spontaneous posting schedule. I don’t want to feel pressured to wait for a specific day, especially as I begin applying for classes next month and take on a new job. With my ongoing health challenges draining my energy, I’m learning to adapt and work through it. With my energy being low lately, I may be posting a little more sporadically than usual. I’m learning to work with the energy I have instead of forcing myself to keep up with a schedule that doesn’t always fit my real life. Thank you for sticking with me on this journey!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Honey Inks Blog! I hope you’re all having a fantastic Monday and a wonderful day overall. If you’ve been following my journey on TIERS– I know it’s only been a short while – you may have noticed that I haven’t provided many updates since my last post. Well, when I checked, it turns out it’s been about three weeks!

Update on TIERS

Let me catch you up a bit. I’m still working on Chapter 4, and I think I’ve finally started to unravel the beginning of the mystery in TIERS. Not necessarily the mystery itself just yet, but more so the structural side of it—figuring out how the pieces of the mystery fit together within the chapter. It’s been a little challenging, but not too overwhelming.

The characters have also been pretty dormant lately. They haven’t really been speaking to me much, which sometimes happens when I’m in the middle of figuring things out. Honestly, I feel a bit like the Ghost Whisperer waiting for them to show up again—if you know, you know!

As for my word count, I’ve reached 12,000 words since my last update. While it’s not a huge jump from 11,000, I’m slowly inching closer to 13,000 words. My goal right now is to finish Chapter 4 by the time May rolls around, so we’ll see how that goes as I keep working through it.

Editing Plans

I’ve also been thinking about going back and editing Chapters 1 through 3 and eventually posting them on Inkit and Wattpad, so you all can see how the story has evolved from the earlier drafts to what it’s becoming now. Honestly, it’s a little funny to me looking back at them—Chapters 1 and 2 are a bit confusing in places, while Chapter 3 feels like it starts to settle into the story a little more.

My goal right now is to finish Chapter 4 by mid to late May, and then spend June and July revisiting and editing the first three chapters. That way I can share the revisions and let you see the growth of TIERS as the story continues to develop.

Future Challenges

I should mention that I’ll be attending school this summer and fall, which may slow down my writing progress on TIERS as I focus on earning my associate degree. I only have two classes left before transferring to a four-year college around 2027!

I’m still working on character cards and developing them further. I’ll document this journey on my YouTube channel and here, so you can follow the progress of TIERS. I recently got a new phone since my previous one broke, which means the camera and video quality should be much improved (I hope😋).

Additionally, I’m creating a new YouTube intro that aligns with my vibe and the direction I want to take with my blog and TIERS. I have a lot of goals for the upcoming months, and I hope to stick to them!

That’s my little update on Honey Inks and everything related to TIERS!

I know today’s Honey Inks is coming in a little late. The past couple of weeks my health hasn’t been the best, and I’ve been feeling pretty low. Right now, I’m slowly trying to get back into my rhythm with the blog and my writing. I also want to make sure that what I’m posting has some substance to it and isn’t just random updates.

So, here’s a short Honey Inks blog for tonight.

Right now, TIERS is sitting at about 11,000 words. When I first started the story, I honestly didn’t think I would even reach 10,000 words by the end of March. The fact that I hit that before March even ended surprised me so much. I’m really proud of that.

I’ve slowly been getting back into the groove of writing TIERS. A couple nights ago I wrote a little bit around 3:00 AM, which I’m honestly getting tired of doing, but my girl Nurys came through. She helped me figure out how the beginning of the chapter should start, and that was a huge relief because I had no idea how to set up that scene.

While working on Chapter 4, I also realized why it felt so messy and difficult to write. When I look back at Chapters 1 through 3, the pacing and ideas are still a bit disorganized. A lot of the early school interactions happen between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, where the characters start meeting other students and settling into the environment.

Chapter 4 is really where the school environment starts to breathe. It’s where we see how the students move around Hawthorne, what Nurys is noticing about the school, and how the atmosphere of Briarwood begins to unfold.

While writing Chapter 4 and understanding the pacing of it, I also had the idea of introducing a character who might be connected to the mystery of the story. I’m still figuring out how everything connects, but that late-night writing session helped the mystery start forming in my head.

That night Nurys really helped me begin shaping the mystery of the book. It’s not fully put together yet, but it’s starting to come into focus. The concept of the mystery is slowly forming inside the story as I continue writing.

Right now, I’m also doing something I probably shouldn’t be doing — going back and editing Chapters 1, 2, and 3 while trying to write Chapter 4. I know most writers say to finish the draft first, but my brain keeps jumping back and forth between writing and fixing earlier chapters.

I also still don’t know how many chapters TIERS will actually have. Right now I’m thinking maybe around 10 chapters, though that might grow as the story develops. I know that’s a little small for a dark academia story, especially for YA, but we’ll see where the story takes me.

Either way, the story is slowly coming together.

So that’s tonight’s little Honey Inks update. It’s a bit messy, but honestly the writing process usually is.

Hey guys, welcome back to another Honey Inks blog! Little update: I’m still at 1,079 words in chapter 4—yay, yay me! I thought I wouldn’t be able to write since it’s been a while, but yeah, I managed to get back into it. Last night, Nurys came in and pretty much told me to edit chapters 1 and 2 and basically add certain things into my edit. I’ve been going back and forth between the first three chapters and chapter 4 so that I can get a sense of what’s going on in the book itself. So yeah, that’s been going on.

I know I’m supposed to post an updated version of the cast to introduce Kai and Luca—mostly Luca but these two characters are being very stingy with their personality charts. They’re not coming to me as easily as Nurys, Silas, and Renée did. Granted, Kai has been much more willing to come out of my brain and tell me about himself and his family, mostly his family. But I’ll give you a quick little synopsis of Kai. He is the son of a well-known lawyer, and his mother is a doctor in Briarwood hospital.

Nurys and Renee’s mother also work at the same hospital as his mother, and Kai has been bringing me little snippets of their interactions, but not full scenes. So, I don’t know what this boy is planning in my head, but he’s planning something very messy. I thought Luca would be the messy character but really it might be Kai. He’s student body president of Briarwood Hawthorne High, and he’s a star football player.

Also, I want to be fully transparent: I don’t know anything about football. Like at all. But Kai wanted to be a football player, and I was like, “bet. OK, you can be a football player. That’s fine but you better show me more about BHH.” as I’m sitting in my room continuing to talk to myself

Luca, on the other hand, isn’t reserved like the first two but he knows everybody’s mess and personal business as if he is standing in the same room as them. Luca is a journalist, so for him to know everybody’s business like he does is basically his job.

This is what I’ve been doing in the book: I’ve been giving the kids their own personal areas in the school where their personalities show a little bit more. For instance, Nurys is an artist, so she’ll most likely be in the art room. Silas, if you read the previous blog about him, likes music, so he’ll be in the piano room. And it’s been helping me develop their personalities a lot more than just a group of kids solving a mystery.

As you get to know him in the book, he will be the one helping Nurys navigate the school system. Understand who’s who and which information matters most. While his personality is coming through, he is also helping with the mystery of the book. Luca also has a sister who goes to the same school as everybody else, and her name is Kalani. Now, do I know much about Kalani, no but she will develop over time. As the story unfolds with this new character, my imagination and the plot deepen.

Also, while I’m thinking more about ideas for the story and going deeper with the characters, I feel like I’m making a whole Netflix TV show or movie that teens will watch. But yeah, I’m just excited to see where this story will go.

But as I’m writing more about Kai and Luca and seeing their personalities develop on my iPad (because I write on my iPad). Meeting them in the story, you’ll see their personalities are kind of like oil and water. Kai is more willing to be involved with the elites, whereas Luca— he’s less reliant on the elite and he believes that they’re all fake and that’s the vibe I’m getting from him. But as I continue working on their character profiles and who they are in the story, I might have to hold off on telling you guys who they are fully.

I think with chapter 4, I really want to take my time and try to get the whole feel of the school. I want to show that Renée is now entering the school, and I also want to say that I’m having a little trouble with the beginning of the story—just because I don’t know how to start it. But the middle of it? It’s getting pretty thick.

Just how Nurys is entering the elitist world, and how she feels about it, is being really shown in the book. When you read Chapter 4, Nurys’s mental health isn’t triggered, but you can sense that she feels very tense about being in a place where something feels wrong.

Mr. Dubok will be at school, but he’s not really going to be there fully. Like the gray moral character he is, you do sense that she’s being watched. And not even by one person, but by two people. The second person who is watching her in silence, but in a way, that’s like: I know who you are? And that’s kind of creepy, don’t get me wrong.

Silas and Nurys relationship develops a lot more. You see the dynamic between them and how they grow, not only as people, but as students. So that’s my goal for them.

You also see how Renée interacts with the elitist crowd and how she moves around in this world, trying not to get to the top, but to enter a world where chaos doesn’t really show itself vividly to the naked eye. Also, you’ll see how the group builds slowly as they try to solve this mystery that I still have to figure out.

Oh yeah, also I want to point out that while I was slightly editing chapters one through three, I kind of added another area in Northwick called Fairwood. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but this is a process where I’m just like, “Oh, I’m liking it, I’m enjoying it,” and it’s going to be something that I’m going to be proud of.

So yeah… that’s where everything is right now. It’s still unfolding, still a little messy, but in a way that feels right.

If you want to keep up with Briarwood, Nurys, and everything happening in TIERS as I figure it out in real time… you’re more than welcome to stay.

It is snowing again where I live, and it feels like the perfect quiet moment to talk about Silas, TIERS, and where I feel, the story is beginning to grow. I also want to briefly apologize for not posting yesterday for TIERS. Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I truly needed to get something off my chest. I needed a moment to express what my nervous system had been carrying in a way that felt healthy and honest for me. Sometimes writing is the only place where that can happen.

I also think we live in a world where people are often discouraged from talking openly about their mental health, especially when it comes to work and the pressures people carry every day. I wanted to share something real in that moment so that anyone who may feel the same way knows they are not alone. Thank you for understanding.

Now, with that being said, let’s finally talk about Silas and where Chapter 4 of TIERS might begin.

I’ll also admit that I’m still a little under the weather, so bear with me.

For the long-awaited introduction to Silas, I’ll be honest: I was a little hesitant to introduce him at first. Not because I didn’t want to share him, but because I want to handle his character with care and thoughtfulness. I didn’t want to simply drop him into the story without understanding him properly first.

When I first started shaping Silas, I pulled a bit of inspiration from the show Degrassi: The Next Generation. There was a character connected to the school through a teacher that always stuck with me because the show portrayed him as someone navigating school, pressure, and social dynamics in his own way. That kind of grounded realism is something I want inside TIERS, because not everyone at Briarwood Hawthorne High is going to fit into the same mold.

When I started thinking about Silas, I knew I didn’t want him to be the stereotypical jock, the typical bad boy, or even the overly perfect “good guy” character that many stories fall back on. I wanted him to feel different from the standard versions of male characters we often see in books.

Silas is autistic in the story, but his autism is not meant to define his entire character. Instead, it shapes how he experiences certain social situations and how he processes the world around him. My goal is to write a character who approaches things differently and who might allow some readers to feel seen or understood in a way that isn’t based on stereotypes.

At the same time, I am still learning as I write him. My goal is to portray him with respect and care while allowing him to grow naturally as the story unfolds.

Silas Dubok is a 17-year-old student at Briarwood Hawthorne High. Unlike some of the other students, Silas comes from one of the most powerful families connected to the Briarwood community. The Dubok name carries weight in the town, and that legacy places a certain level of pressure on him whether he wants it or not.

His father, Mr. Dubok, is a figure of authority within the community and someone whose ambitions reach far beyond the school itself. Because of this, Silas has grown up within a very structured and demanding environment where expectations are high and appearances matter. The Dubok family has held influence in Briarwood for generations, and that influence continues to shape how people see Silas, whether he agrees with it or not.

But despite that pressure, Silas isn’t defined by the same energy that surrounds his family.

One of the few places where he truly feels calm is at the piano. Playing music is the one space where he can quiet the noise around him and simply exist without the weight of expectations.

As the story of TIERS continues, you’ll slowly start to see the connection between Silas and Narice develop. I’m intentionally writing their relationship as a slow burn. I don’t want the book to revolve entirely around romance, but their dynamic will definitely be there in the background. Some moments they might understand each other, and other moments they might completely clash. It’s a bit of a tug-of-war type of relationship, which honestly feels realistic to me when it comes to high school dynamics. You’re never fully sure what’s going to happen next—whether people will grow closer or drift apart. That’s the kind of energy I want between them throughout the story.

And like the other students I’m writing about, Silas also has a place within the Briarwood Hawthorne High environment. Each character carries a talent, a strength, or something that helps define who they are within that world.

Silas’s story is only just beginning, and there is much more to him than what appears on the surface.

One quick update about Chapter 4 of TIERS: it’s actually the only chapter so far where I don’t have a full base or outline for it yet. Most of the earlier chapters had a clear direction in my head before I started writing them, but Chapter 4 feels different. It’s one of those moments where I’m writing a little more from instinct and imagination, letting the characters guide the scene instead of forcing it into a strict plan. So this chapter will probably be one of the most experimental ones for me as a writer, and I’m curious to see where it leads.

So, with that being said—meet Silas Dubok.

If you’ve been quietly reading along as TIERS continues to grow, thank you. And if you’d like to keep following the journey of these characters as the story unfolds, you’re always welcome to subscribe and stay awhile.

Hey y’all. I hope everyone is staying warm during this blizzard season.

My plan this week was to post a YouTube video, but the winter cold has my CP flaring up, and my body just isn’t cooperating. And honestly? That’s okay. Moments like this force me to slow down. To focus on smaller things. To rest when I need to.

While the blizzard is yelling through my window, the world of TIERS is quietly burning with new insight.

The last time I left off, I was at Chapter 3 with about 8,900 words — give or take, depending on the software. I’m proud of that. As I move closer to Chapter 4 and the girls finally entering the school, the tone is shifting. New characters are stepping in. New dynamics are forming. The energy is changing.

I know Chapters 1 and 2 may feel different from where the story is heading now, but that’s the nature of a first draft. The beginning will evolve as the story grows. The deeper I go, the more clarity I gain about who these characters really are.

My goal right now is to reach Chapter 10. Not because the book will be finished, it won’t but because Chapter 10 feels like a foundation. A point where the mystery, the psychology, and the turning points begin to settle into something solid. Strong enough to print out as a small manuscript. Strong enough to start editing with more intention.

There was a moment in Chapter 3, in the margins of a dialogue between Nurys and Renee, and again between Nurys and her mother where I started scribbling notes about what this story could become. That’s when I realized something was deepening.

Around that same time, I’ve been thinking about my own growth too. I’m currently working toward my associate’s degree in psychology, taking one class this summer and another in the fall. After that, I’ll start looking more seriously at schools to continue my education.

There’s no strict timeline. I’m building it slowly.

At some point along the way, I’d love to take a creative writing class — not because I doubt the story, but because I want sharper tools. I want to understand structure more deeply. I want critique. I want to grow intentionally while still trusting my voice.

I’ve even caught myself looking at potential art directions and thinking about editors. It might be early, but imagining those details helps me see the story more clearly. I’ve been saving a few book art concepts on Pinterest lately too; studying covers, textures, typography, and house emblems. Nothing official. Just inspiration. Sometimes seeing visual possibilities makes the story feel more tangible.

Cover design by 💧 saintjupit3r 💧

Cover design by Jv ARTS

For now, though, I’m here. Writing through the cold. Writing through the flare-ups. Letting the story grow at the pace it needs to.

I’m not there yet.
But I’m still building.

Hey everyone, so I did it. I finally posted Chapter 3 of TEIRS on Wattpad.

I feel a lot better now that it’s out. It’s still a rough draft, light editing here and there but the idea is there, and that matters. It honestly feels like I graduated from something I didn’t even realize I was enrolled in… and the school year hasn’t even started yet.

Writing Renee took longer than I expected. She isn’t loud or chaotic, but she’s not light either. She’s the quiet one; the one who looks composed on the outside while slowly cracking on the inside. Writing her made me sit with that tension, and I learned a lot from it.

This chapter gave me new ideas for Draft 2 and 3, and even made me rethink parts of Chapters 1 and 2. I still don’t fully know what the twins are about to bring into BHH, but I’m hoping that as the story continues and as new ideas build—the mystery of BHH will become clearer to me… just as it will to you.

I’m also going to take a short break before starting Chapter 4. Chapter 3 really gave me a run for my money—I didn’t expect it to take this long, but writers never tell you how much a single chapter can ask of you. This one asked a lot.

This break is intentional. I want time to think through the plotting, what needs strengthening, and what I should realistically expect as the story moves deeper, especially when it comes to where TEIRS is heading next.

And honestly? During this time I let myself have some fun too. I made a little fake magazine for my cast; think early-2000s People or J-14, as if they were part of a Netflix show and somehow ended up on the front cover.

WANT VEIW THE WHOLE SPREAD

It sounds silly, but it kept me motivated. It helped me keep envisioning bigger possibilities. Like… you never really know where a book can take you. And yes, I have an active imagination but that’s kind of the point when you’re writing a whole book.

Before I take a short break, I wanted to share a small snippet from Chapter 2.

This part sits quietly in the story, but it says a lot—about the twins, about what’s unspoken, and about the atmosphere they’re stepping into.

It’s short, but it feels like a hinge moment for me. One of those scenes that lingers even after you stop writing.

I also wanted to share a small update about Chapter 2. I know it’s still a little rough—not perfect, not fully polished—but the idea is there, and that matters to me right now.

Chapter 2 is written from Nurys’ perspective, focusing on the morning before heading to Briarwood. It’s quiet, observant, and very much rooted in her inner world. It’s not meant to be loud or dramatic—it’s meant to set the emotional tone before everything starts shifting.

Even in its rough state, I really like what this chapter holds. It helped me understand Nurys more, and it gave me clarity on what needs adjusting as the story moves forward.

So yeah—this is just a small TEIRS update, part chit-chat, part reflection, and part reminder to myself that stories don’t start perfect. They start honest.

Want to start reading the story?

✨ Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of TIERS are now available on Wattpad if you’d like to step into the world and meet Narice and Renee more closely.

Auralite_Writes (@Auralite_Writes) - Wattpad

Hi everybody, welcome to another Tiers update.
I know it’s been a while since my last update, and honestly, that’s because I’ve been busy inside the book. Between writing Tiers and juggling blog work, I also hit a bit of a writer’s slump, which happens when you’re balancing long-form storytelling with reflection-based writing. It can be exhausting, but it’s also been really rewarding.

Lately, I’ve been focusing heavily on worldbuilding specifically Northwick and on deepening my characters and how they progress throughout the story. I want Tiers to feel immersive, like you’re not just reading a book but watching a series unfold. Not overly cinematic, but intimate, like a Netflix show where you feel close to the characters, invested enough to think, “Okay… what happens next?” especially when it comes to Nurys, Renee, Silas, and the rest.

One of the biggest realizations I’ve had is that I want readers to feel pulled into the world immediately. I’m being very intentional with perspective and language, trying not to overuse “I” unless it’s necessary, so the reader feels like they’re observing the story from within rather than being told what to feel.

A huge part of my recent work has been building out the school system at Briarwood-Hawthorne Institution—particularly the four-house structure. This was definitely inspired by revisiting stories like Percy Jackson and that idea of houses, hierarchy, and identity. A lot of dark-academia-adjacent stories explore power and knowledge, and I wanted to reflect that through education, access, and social structure.

Right now, there are four houses: Lumiere, Hollow, Sylvara, and Aetheris.

Lumiere is the house of privilege. You don’t have to be smart to belong there—wealth is the deciding factor. Intelligence in Lumiere is more of a bonus than a requirement because access and status already do most of the work.

Hollow, where Nurys is placed, sits on the opposite end of that spectrum. Nurys is very intelligent, but she lacks the energy and patience for the education system as it’s presented to her. She struggles not because she isn’t capable, but because the system doesn’t accommodate how she learns or exists within it.

Sylvara sits above Hollow but below Aetheris and is largely made up of scholarship students. Renee belongs here, and through her perspective, you’ll see tension, especially between Sylvara and Aetheris students because Sylvara students are often seen as having earned their place.

Aetheris students are subtly wealthy. They often think they’re Lumiere-level, but they’re not. Their privilege is quieter, more understated, and sometimes more defensive because of it.

While the houses do interact and aren’t physically segregated, the divisions between them become more visible as the story progresses. I really wanted to explore how education and access to it isn’t fair, something I’ve seen firsthand both as a former daycare teacher and as a student myself. Not everyone starts from the same place, and not everyone is given the same tools to succeed. That imbalance is something I wanted woven naturally into the story.

Another key piece of Tiers—and honestly, one of the main pillars of the story—is the idea of legacy and lost lineage.

At Briarwood-Hawthorne High, the four houses aren’t just symbolic. They’re overseen by founding families who have long-standing influence over the school itself. Lumiere, Sylvara, and Aetheris are tied to three of those families—the Dubok, the Milliano, and the Koblett—families whose names, power, and history are deeply woven into how the institution operates.

Hollow, however, is different.

Hollow represents the lost family, the absence in the system rather than its dominance. And that absence is intentional. This idea becomes central to the larger mystery of Tiers, especially once Narice enters the school and begins to sense that something is off. There’s a quiet imbalance she can’t explain at first, but she feels it deeply.

This is where the emotional contrast between the twins becomes especially important. Nurys and Renee are fraternal twins, but emotionally, they’re polar opposites. Nurys reacts first with her emotions surface immediately, often before she has time to process them. Renee, on the other hand, is more composed on the outside, internalizing everything she feels until it quietly weighs on her. In many ways, they’re both hurting, each other and themselves, just in different ways.

As the story progresses, Nurys’s sensitivity intensifies once she enters Briarwood-Hawthorne. In previous updates, I’ve mentioned that Nurys is a witch, descended from a line of witches—a truth her mother kept from her for years. Before attending the school, Nurys had been unknowingly suppressing her abilities through herbal remedies. Once she arrives at Briarwood, she chooses to stop taking them, and her powers begin to surface more strongly.

Renee notices the shift almost immediately. Narice becomes more emotionally reactive, more sensitive to certain environments and people. And because they’re twins, that tension doesn’t exist in isolation—Renee feels it too. There’s a quiet, psychic thread between them, a kind of twin telepathy where emotional surges echo back and forth. When Narice feels off-balance, Renee does as well, even if she never says it out loud.

This emotional and supernatural connection becomes another way the story explores legacy, identity, and what happens when parts of the past are intentionally buried. Hollow isn’t just a house—it’s a question. And Nurys’s presence at Briarwood forces that question to surface.

Genre-wise, I’ve also come to terms with the fact that Tiers isn’t fully dark academia. It borrows the atmosphere, but it leans more into psychology, coming-of-age, and social dynamics, with mystery elements slowly threading through. I’m still working through the larger mystery and plotting, but it’s becoming clearer as I go.

Another layer I’ve been developing more intentionally is the relationships in Tiers. Romance exists, but it isn’t the core focus. What I’m more interested in is exploring different dynamics and how people connect in complicated, sometimes messy ways.

For example, the relationship between Nurys and Silas starts as an enemies-to-friends situation. There’s tension, misunderstanding, and emotional friction before any real connection forms. Their dynamic grows slowly and organically, rooted more in shared moments and character growth than immediate attraction. In contrast, relationships like Renee and Kai explore a very different kind of connection. Overall, the story includes romantic, platonic, strained, and unresolved relationships without turning the book into a romance-driven narrative.

I also want to acknowledge that the book will touch on some heavier, more subtle topics, things like grooming and toxic behavior. These aren’t the focus of the story, and I’m not interested in being overly explicit or sensational. But I do think it’s important to acknowledge how easily certain behaviors can be dismissed or overlooked, especially by young people who may not yet recognize them for what they are. My goal is to add depth and realism, not shock value.

While working on Tiers, I’ve also found myself thinking about two other book ideas. Nothing is set in stone yet, and I’m not rushing into them, but they’ve been sitting in the back of my mind as creative possibilities. For now, Tiers remains my main focus.

As for progress, I’m currently at about 8,000 words and almost finished with Chapter Three. I’m still editing it, but I’m hoping to wrap it up by next week. Once Chapter Three is posted on Wattpad, Chapters Four and onward will make much more sense within the story’s current direction. Chapters One and Two are older, I wrote them when I was nineteen, and they need some restructuring to better align with where the story is now. So if things feel a little uneven early on, that’s why. The story really settles into itself from Chapter Three forward.

I also want to be honest and say that I’ll probably be reintroducing my main characters again. I understand them a lot better now, and I feel like they deserve introductions that actually match who they are in the story.

Renee and Nurys will be introduced together, and the rest of the characters will get their own individual posts. It’s less about starting over and more about finally knowing what I’m writing about and wanting the foundation to feel right before moving forward.

That’s where Tiers is right now. If you’re curious, you can read what’s currently up on Wattpad, and I’ll be sharing more updates as the story continues to evolve. Thanks for sticking with me and for being patient while this world comes together.

Hey everyone, welcome to a quick update on TEIRS 🖤

The last time I shared about the book, I had just finished Chapter 2 and now I’m nearly done with Chapter 3. My plan is to post the next update on Wattpad within the next week or two. For now, I’m focusing on finishing the story before rolling out consistent updates, mostly because TEIRS is something I’d love to properly publish one day.

For anyone new here, TEIRS follows Nurys, a young girl who attends Briarwood Hawthorne High (BHH)—a boarding school originally built for elites, but one that quietly allows lower-class students through scholarship funding. She and her fraternal twin sister, Renee, enter the school unaware of what’s truly lurking beneath its polished surface. Secrets, power, and history begin to reveal themselves in ways neither of them expected. The story leans into dark academia with elements of magic, psychology, and an unsettling sense that something is always watching.

Lately, my main focus has been worldbuilding. Yesterday I spent hours developing the foundation of TEIRS designing student ID cards, report documents, house placements, and mapping out character relationships. Somewhere between all of that (and my grandmother’s coffee ☕), I think I finally broke through a layer of writer’s block.

The story takes place in Northwick, the land that TEIRS is built on. Within it are two key spaces: Briarwood and Hawthorne. They were once separate high schools until Hawthorne burned down under unexplained circumstances—an event that still lingers over the town. After the fire, the schools merged, with Briarwood becoming the physical and social center of BHH, while Hawthorne’s legacy lives on in whispers, resentment, and unanswered questions.

Step Into Northwick

Another major element I’m developing is the idea of legacies. Certain families, names, and histories carry weight within Briarwood Hawthorne. Some students inherit power, protection, or reputation simply because of where they come from, while others are constantly reminded that they don’t belong. These legacies quietly shape alliances, rivalries, and how characters move through the school often before they even realize it themselves.

I’m also putting more intention into expanding the cast beyond Nurys and Renee. Their classmates, love interests, and interpersonal dynamics play a much larger role than I originally planned. Some relationships overlap, some clash, and some blur lines entirely. It’s no longer just a love triangle it’s a web. Not every character will appear all at once, but each one has a purpose, a past, and a place within the story.

Structurally, I’m still experimenting with how I want TEIRS to unfold. I’m drawn to writing it almost like a TV show allowing scenes to feel visual, cutting between perspectives, and letting tension build gradually, episode by episode. I want it to feel like there’s a screen playing in your mind, as if you’re watching a moody, Y2K-era drama unfold.

The story pulls inspiration from a mix of shows and storytelling styles I grew up with ensemble casts, layered mysteries, supernatural undertones, and sharp social hierarchies. There are familiar elements like houses, rankings, and class divisions, but not in the sense of grade levels rather, class as in power, status, and who gets protected versus who gets watched.

In future updates, I’m excited to share more about the characters, the legacies, and the deeper history of Northwick itself. For now, this is where TEIRS stands growing, shifting, and slowly revealing what’s been hidden.

Want to read more? 🤍

If you’d like to explore more of TEIRS or dive into my other blogs and updates, you can click one of the links below. I share character insights, story progress, world-building notes, and reflections as the story continues to grow.

Thank you for reading and being here there’s so much more to come.

Hey everybody 🤍
This is the Character Edition of TEIRs. I don’t have an official title for this series just yet, but for now, this is the space where I introduce the characters as they exist beyond the page.

A week or two ago, you met Nurys Morris—the twin who struggles to express emotion, who keeps to herself, who often feels alone even when she isn’t.

Today, this is Renee Morris.

Renee is Narice’s fraternal twin sister, the older twin. She’s often seen as the “perfect child,” but that title comes with weight. Renee is the one who keeps the household steady. She acts as the middle ground between her mother and her sister, constantly trying to prevent conflict, constantly smoothing things over. In many ways, she’s the second parent—the emotional anchor of the family.

Renee likes things to be a certain way. Precise. Ordered. In place.
When something feels off or out of control, she feels it deeply, even if she doesn’t say it out loud.

She’s a dancer and serious about it, disciplined, and driven. She attends Briarwood-Hawthorne Institution, a place that requires her to adapt, perform, and fit into a very specific mold. Renee knows how to mold herself. She knows how to blend in, how to be what people expect, how to belong.

Unlike Narice, who doesn’t care to fit in, Renee wants to. She needs to. And she will do what’s necessary to make that happen.

She’s easy to talk to. Easy to connect with. People like her, and she likes people. However, beneath that openness lies a carefully maintained façade. Renee doesn’t always know how to let her emotions exist without trying to fix them. When that facade cracks, she feels the need to repair herself… or remove herself entirely.

Renee does everything “right.”
But understanding her own emotions and knowing when to let her guard down doesn’t come easily.

Building Renee was hard. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t Narice, and that Narice wasn’t her. I’m still learning her, still shaping her, still discovering who she is as I write.

But this is Renee—
as she exists right now,
as I see her,
as she’s revealing herself in Tears.

And this is only the beginning.

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A quick note on the world of TIERs

As I’ve been writing and especially while building Renee, I’ve started adding class sections to the story. Don’t worry, I’ll be going much more in-depth about this in a future blog where I break down the newest updates to Tears (either in the next blog or the one after New Year’s, because there’s a lot, and I want to do it right).

Renee is the character who pushed this idea forward.

Where Nurys exists slightly outside of appearance and expectation, but detached, Renee is fully committed to a world that demands polish, performance, and perfection. A world that hasn’t fully accepted her background… and one she hasn’t fully accepted herself in either.

Through Renee, I started thinking more deeply about status, structure, and social positioning within Briarwood-Hawthorne. How people are sorted. How they’re perceived. How much of that is choice and how much is survival?

Writing Renee made me want to think bigger about the environment she’s moving through. The pressure. The hierarchy. The way certain characters learn to adapt, mold, and perform just to exist within it.

So while these ideas are still forming, they’re intentional, and Renee is very much at the center of that evolution.

I’m still listening to her.
Still learning what she’s trying to convey.
And still letting her guide how the story unfolds.

More soon 🤍

Want to read more? 🤍

If you’d like to explore more of Tears or dive into my other blogs and updates, you can click one of the links below. I share character insights, story progress, world-building notes, and reflections as the story continues to grow.

Thank you for reading and being here—there’s so much more to come.

Want to start reading the story?

✨ Chapters 1 and 2 of Tears are now available on Wattpad if you’d like to step into the world and meet Narice and Renee more closely.

Auralite_Writes (@Auralite_Writes) - Wattpad

A small note of support 🤍

If you’ve been enjoying Tears, the character editions, or any of my blogs, and you’d like to support this project in a small way, I do have a Buy Me a Coffee linked below.

There’s absolutely no pressure reading, sharing, and being here already means a lot. But if you’d like to leave a tip, it’s deeply appreciated and goes directly toward supporting Tears and the work I’m building around it.

Thank you for being part of this journey, in whatever way you can.

Welcome to a Tiers progress update 🌿

As of right now, I’ve written about 3,289 words for Chapter 2. Combined with Chapter 1, that brings the total to around 5,000 words so far, which honestly feels really good.

While working on the story, I’ve realized I might want to change a few things—mainly around the characters and the overall direction of the book.

1. Character ages

One big thing I’m reconsidering is the age of my characters (I like to call them my actors).

As I’ve been developing the plot, I’ve had a lot of ideas come up—some involving scandals, emotional weight, and deeper character conflicts. Nothing extreme, but definitely things that feel heavier than what I’m comfortable putting on younger teens.

I reached a point where I realized:

• I don’t personally enjoy writing about very young teenagers anymore

• Some of the situations I want to explore make more sense with slightly older characters

• I, as a writer, relate more to that stage of life now

So I’ve decided to age the characters up. They’ll be college-aged, roughly between 19–24, with most of them leaning toward the early-20s range. They’re still figuring life out, still messy, still learning, but with more agency and perspective.

2. Setting shift

With the age change, I’m also shifting the setting slightly.

The main environment will now be a college setting, where the characters are adapting to independence, expectations, and identity. I’m leaning into a dark academia vibe, with a touch of elegance and atmosphere. It’s a familiar aesthetic, but I’m aiming to make it feel intentional and personal rather than generic.

3. My writing pace

Something else I’ve learned while writing Tiers is that I’m a slow writer, and honestly? I’m okay with that.

I spend a lot of time thinking about character development, long-term arcs, and how different plot points connect. I have so many ideas in Notion scenes, backstories, and alternate paths that sometimes it takes a while to decide what actually belongs in the story.

Because of that, even though it’s been a couple of months since I last posted on Wattpad, Chapter 2 still needs a bit more editing and refining. I want the story to make sense, feel intentional, and grow naturally, so I’m allowing myself that space instead of rushing it.

This story is still very much alive. I’m just figuring out what version of it feels the most true.

4. Letting the story breathe

One thing I keep reminding myself while working on Tiers is that I have a lot of ideas sometimes too many at once. I don’t want the story to feel rushed or overly packed, like everything is happening at the same time just because I’m excited about it.

So right now, I’m focusing on letting the story breathe. I want moments, scenes, and characters to have space instead of feeling squished together. Some ideas might come later. Some might change. And some might not make it into this version of the story at all and that’s okay.

I’m also thinking about experimenting more with voiceovers, especially since I really enjoyed doing one for Chapter 1. I don’t have everything fully decided yet, but I like the idea of letting the story exist in different forms while I figure out its rhythm.

For now, I’m trusting the process even if it feels a little unsure.

Thank you for sticking with me 🐝💛

Her feelings run deeper, sharper, and more intense than her peers. The way she processes life is basically on its own spectrum. In her mind, she has this little system a grid, a circle, a whole tier-level structure where everyone she meets gets placed. The moment someone ticks her off or shows the smallest flaw, they get bumped down a level. No one has ever reached the top tier in her head. Not yet.

Nurys analyzes people in ways she doesn’t even realize are extreme. She notices everything how you speak, how you smile, how your eyes blink, how your voice shifts and she keeps those details stored like evidence. It makes her seem judgmental or narcissistic at first glance, but really it’s her defense system. She doesn’t trust people. Not on the surface. Not underneath. Not easily. Everyone she interacts with goes through an internal questionnaire the moment she meets them, and she judges every interaction with a kind of meticulous intensity she hasn’t recognized as “not typical” yet.

Inside her mind, imagine the movie Inside Out, but darker. Her brain is a whole control room filled with filing cabinets and back rooms, each one dedicated to a person she has ever met. Every mistake they’ve made, every flaw she caught, every odd moment she observed it all goes in a file. And she can pull those files instantly. Her memory is that sharp. Any time someone messes up, she remembers it down to the breath.

But the twist?
When someone calls her out even gently she shuts down. She owns the flaw, but she sits with it too long. She holds it like proof that she’s imperfect, proof that something is off about her, proof that she isn’t enough. That’s when her anxiety spikes. She’s not perfect, and she knows it, but sometimes she forgets that flaws are normal, that growth is allowed, that she doesn’t have to punish herself for every crack in her armor.

Her mistrust started at home. Her childhood wasn’t abusive, but it wasn’t stable either. Her mother, Vivian, has the emotional softness of a stranger everything is disconnected, tense, and unpredictable. Small things become arguments. Misunderstandings turn into tension. Nurys grew up feeling like she was always wrong, like everything she did was a disappointment, like she’d been failing since the moment she existed. And because of that, she never learned how to trust people without scanning for danger first.

She doesn’t ask for help. She doesn’t want help. Even when she needs it.

A huge part of that ties into her health. Nurys takes regular medication, and like a lot of kids who grow up medicated without explanation, she wonders constantly if she’s broken. Nobody has explained to her why she takes what she takes, or what it means, or why her body works differently. But the truth which she won’t learn until much later — is that her emotions are connected to her witch powers. When she stops taking her medication, her powers spike, burst, and pull everything around her into chaos. Her emotions literally fuel her magic. And she doesn’t know it yet.

That lack of understanding adds another layer to her identity crisis. Another reason she tries to control everything. Another reason she feels unsafe in her own skin.

The way she presents herself is like someone hiding in plain sight she doesn’t want to exist loudly, but she refuses to give up on herself. She still wants a happy ending. She still pushes forward. She still tries. And in her relationships with Luca, Layla, Silas, and the rest she’s actually the dominant one. The grounded one. The one who sees everything. She just doesn’t know how to let anyone see her back.

There are still pieces of her story I’m working on especially her powers, her lineage, and the reveal that Vivian isn’t her biological mother but all of that will come to light later in the book. Right now, this is about learning who Nurys is at her core.

A girl with a dark filing cabinet mind.
A girl who remembers everything.
A girl who trusts nothing.
A girl who’s trying anyway.

She is flawed, anxious, observant, and searching for control in a world that never taught her how to feel safe. And that’s what makes her compelling. That’s what makes her dangerous. That’s what makes her real.

Nurys is the one everybody labels as “the problematic child,” but she’s not really problematic. She just observes everything first. She questions everything before she moves. And her emotions? They’re loud, they’re messy, they’re wild. She feels things so deeply that half the time she can’t even express it right. And with Vivian being… well, the way she is toward her, Nurys shuts down more than she opens up.

Then you have Renée the other twin who’s basically the responsible one, the caregiver, the person trying to keep everything together even when she’s drowning. She looks fine, but she’s really not. She just hides it better.

Vivian, their mom, also has her own issues, but she lives in this constant fight-or-flight mode. She doesn’t know how to express herself or how to deal with her own emotions because of everything she’s been through. And that ends up showing in how she parents the twins, especially Nurys.

And then there’s Eunice, the grandmother. You won’t meet her just yet, I know where I’m placing her, but as the story grows and the plot lines get more solid, you’ll understand her role and how the whole Maurice family dynamic came to be.

But yeah, this is the first family of the Tiers series: the Morries.
Next week I’ll go more into Nurys how she thinks, how she sees people, how she sees herself, her interests, all that little stuff happening in her head.

If you want to read more, Chapter 1 is already up on Wattpad.

I’m working with a new system to keep all my ideas together, though, and Chapter 2 is currently at 1,883 words, which I am very proud of.

Here’s a small peek:
This chapter follows Narice and Renee as they officially enter Crestwood–Hawthorne High (yes, the name is a whole paragraph, I know 😭). You’ll start seeing the division between the Hawthorne students and the Crestwood students — the tension, the looks, the unspoken “you’re not one of us” moments. I’m still figuring out how that split works, but I know it’ll really bloom in Chapter 3 or 4.

We’re also meeting three of the founding families, and you’ll see how they thread into the world. I’m settling into a name for the land — Northwick — but it may still change depending on how the story grows. It’ll show up in the Chapter 1 update eventually, but right now I’m letting my ideas flow before I commit to changes.

Wattpad is basically my little lab where I can test out my writing style and see what works before I (hopefully!) turn Tiers into a physical book. ✨ Manifesting that journey.

I still want to add more inner dialogue for Nurys and show more of her relationship with her sister. Character development is coming it’s just that my thoughts zoom like they’re late for work and my hands… don’t. But we’re learning. 😭

I plan to share a short audio version of Chapters 1 and 2 soon. When I do, just know it’s a rough draft, not a polished version but it’s honest and it’s mine.

Because suddenly, random people on the internet have access to my imagination. They get to peek into the world I built, the emotions I shaped, the little whispers that lived in my head for months.

It feels like I cracked the door open to my inner self.
And before anybody gets it twisted the character isn’t based on me. But the feeling of someone reading something that came from my spirit? yeah… that’s where it hits different.

Most people already know this, but I wrote Tiers when I was 18. Baby me had no business writing about trauma, secrets, and emotional depth like that — but somehow, I did. And then I put it down. Life was lifing, burnout was burning, and the book just sat there for years.

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Then this past spring or summer (time is fake), something in me said, “hey… pick that story back up.” And I did. I started rewriting, rethinking, and honestly reconnecting with it. My writing changed, I changed, and suddenly I understood Tiers differently what it wanted to be, what it should make people feel, what kind of world I was actually building.

These first few chapters? They mean a lot to me. Like, “my heart + my soul + my inner child’s imagination went into this” type of a lot. And I think every writer understands that moment where the thing you love most is now in other people’s hands. Because suddenly it’s real. And people can A) love it, B) judge it, or C) scroll past it like it’s nothing.

And emotionally??? Whew. I feel like I’m standing in the “unknown zone.”
Is it good? Will people read it? Will they hate it? Am I literally delusional?

And don’t get me wrong I did click on my own book like six times already, so if Wattpad thinks I’m popping… that’s just me being my biggest fan.

But truthfully, my hopes for this book are simple and huge at the same time. I want people to like it, of course. I want readers to sink into the story and care about Nurys and Renee and their mom. But the BIG dream? One day seeing Tiers as a physical book. Like… an actual book-book. With pages. In stores. On shelves. In someone’s tote bag on the subway. That’s the dream that scares me the most but also keeps me writing.

And hitting publish felt like opening the floodgates.
Like, “Oh. So the world is really out here. My world is out here. What did I do?”

Because I’ve spent so much time shaping these characters and their emotional layers. Nurys, who’s 14 and feels everything but says nothing. Renee, who puts on a whole performance of being okay because she thinks she has to be the strong one. And their mom, Vivian; who’s so desperate for control because of all the places in her life where she has none. Their emotions carry pieces of mine, and I hope readers feel that. I hope it shows.

But underneath all the fear, there’s this quiet confidence humming in the background.
Like… I actually did it.
I posted something I’ve worked on for months.
I believed in this story enough to let it go.

It is a risk every form of art is. You think it’s good when it’s safe in your note’s app, but you only find out who you are as a creator once you hit publish.

And yesterday, I hit publish.
So yeah… that’s where I’m at.

Also, I don’t know what the schedule will be for my book, but chapter 2 will be posted soon. And hey… if you’re curious, Chapter 1 is on Wattpad. Come meet Nurys.

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It gave me characters to pour myself into, scenes to rewrite the version of life I didn’t always get to live. And now, years later, I’m circling back to this story with fresh eyes and a bit more grace.

Some of you may know that I’ve been writing a “book” called TIERS. I’ve been working on the first two chapters for about two to three months now.

It follows a 14-year-old girl named Nurys Morris, who has a chronic illness and struggles deeply with trust. She sees the world through a kind of visual scale people fall into levels depending on how much she trusts them.
If you’re Level 1, you’re in her inner circle. But if you reach Level 5… you’re practically nonexistent to her.

Nurys has a fraternal twin named Renee, who’s seen as the “perfect one.” But perfection only lasts when the right people are watching.
And then there’s Silas, their love interest plus a tangled family dynamic that seems normal on the surface… until you start digging into the secrets in the garden and the quiet tension between the Morrises and the Duboks.

🗝️ The story will be available on Wattpad soon.

I originally wrote TIERS right after high school, when I was 18. Back then, I didn’t plan to share it with anyone. Honestly, I thought it was good until I reread it years later and realized… it wasn’t. Like, unreadably bad. Nothing made sense. But that’s the humbling part: looking back and laughing at what once felt so serious. I even shared a bit of it on Threads because it reminded me how far I’ve come.

Truthfully, I wasn’t writing to be a great author back then. I was just writing to survive. To process. Maybe to dodge the reality of growing up.

I was planning to drop TIERS on Wattpad this Halloween, but things didn’t go as expected (life be life-ing). Still, the story’s coming.

Before everything shut down that year, I found some of my old notes — and I thought, what if I actually tried? What if I wrote this story again… but just for fun?

So I did.

You can follow my progress on Threads and Instagram, but I wanted to share a little glimpse here first.

I’m not trying to give too much away just yet — I want to see if you’d enjoy it, or maybe even share it with someone who might. The genre lives somewhere between dark academia and soft psychology. A little shadow, a little light.

Right now, I’m just learning my writing style through this story — figuring it out one chapter at a time.

Thanks for reading 💛

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If you recall my initial A Work in Progress Book Reveal blog, I began Tiers right after graduating from high school. I had just stepped into the “adult” world and was feeling a whirlwind of emotions. Unsure of what to do next, I turned to writing, as I always have.

I started Tiers when I was 18 or 19. Initially, it was meant to be a straightforward YA novel, filled with high school drama, a touch of romance, and perhaps some enemies-to-lovers tropes nothing too profound.

The original characters were named Renée, Melina, and Celia. It was lighthearted, a bit messy, and mostly about the vibes.

Then, everything began to shift.

After COVID, I distanced myself from it, but the idea never completely faded away. Occasionally, it would resurface in my mind, prompting me to jot down notes, wondering if I would ever revisit it.

I’m not quite sure why it’s calling to me again now, but here I am fully immersed in it once more. And this time, it feels different.

Tiers is no longer the gentle teen book I once envisioned.
It has developed depth.
It’s more intricate.
I’m not even sure what genre it fits into anymore psychological? Emotional fiction? Dark academia adjacent?

Is Tiers a metaphor? Honestly, I’m unsure. But it certainly feels like one.
The characters are more complex, the stakes are higher, and the story impacts me just as much as I impact it.

Melina has transformed into Nurys, and Nurys has evolved into something entirely new a girl navigating her identity between who she is and how the world perceives her.
She exists in the space between her outward image and her inner self, between the weight of her family’s narrative and the one she strives to create for herself.

I’m currently exploring various themes:

• Family dynamics across class divides

• The silent transmission of grief

• Perception versus reality

• Town secrets and fractured legacies

• The reshaping of girlhood and identity under societal pressure

This was never intended to be that kind of book,
but perhaps it always was. I still hold grand aspirations for this project. Maybe it will evolve into four books one for each year of high school. Or perhaps it will become something more concise. Regardless, I know I’m deeply invested in it now.

Even though I’m only on chapter two, the vision is clear: a town. a girl. numerous layers. and something unspoken simmering beneath the surface.

Writing this while managing a full-time daycare job is certainly challenging emotionally, mentally, and creatively. Some nights, I come home eager to write but find myself unable to. Other nights, the ideas flow freely. Yet, the story remains with me, patiently waiting for me to return.

And I’m not in a hurry. I want to develop it slowly, layer by layer just as it has come to me.
Some stories prefer not to be rushed.
This one has asked to be felt first. And I’m listening.

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Back when I was 18–19, I started writing a story called Westbrook High. It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t planned. It was just me messy, dramatic, imaginative putting words down to make sense of the world around me. Over the years, I’ve collected scraps of dialogue, half-written scenes, and old notes, and recently I decided to rework it into something new.

Even the title is changing. Westbrook High will no longer be the name. For now, I’m calling it Tiers to reflect the way the main character sees and judges the world around her.

This is not finished. It’s very much a work in progress. I’m still in the editing phase (and trying not to reread too much so I don’t rewrite everything before I even finish chapter one). Some names might change, some scenes will definitely shift. Right now, I’m still exploring where this book wants to go, and what I want it to be.

But here’s the heart of it: Tiers follows Melina, a freshman who sees people through a mental “tier system.” Her twin sister, Renee, is the golden child. Her mother is strict, layered, and complicated. And everyone at school gets judged and categorized in Melina’s mind as she navigates family tension, cliques, and survival. It’s not just high school drama—it’s about perception, protection, and the walls we build to survive our own families and our own minds.

And while this story isn’t centered on romance, there will still be relationships woven throughout connections that shape Melina’s choices, complicate her world, and reveal the ways we lean on or push against the people around us.

I decided to share a little piece of it with you today. I recorded a short audio of the first pages, not as a polished reading, but as a glimpse into where this story began when I was 18, and where I hope to take it now.

This isn’t an official launch. Think of it more like a soft start, a storytime with teenage me—revisited through grown-up eyes. I’ll keep tinkering with it in the background, and I’ll share updates along the way. For now, I just wanted to invite you into the process, into the world that sparked my writing in the first place.

For me, writing has always been the clearer way to express myself. Speaking requires quick thinking, instant comebacks, and words that don’t always come out right. Writing, on the other hand, slows my mind down. It gives me space to sit with my emotions, process them, and then shape them into something that makes sense not only to me, but also to the person reading.

It reminds me of a blog I once wrote, The Child Who Knew but Couldn’t Speak. In that piece, I explored what it feels like to grow up without healthy communication skills to be the child who couldn’t voice their emotions, and then to grow into an adult who has to build an outlet from scratch. Writing became that outlet for me.

But writing hasn’t only been about communication. Lately, I’ve been realizing it’s also my creativity. For the longest time, I didn’t even think of myself as a creative writer, I thought writing was just a chore, something you had to do for school or work.

Then I stumbled back into a project I started years ago, a little story I called Westbrook High (maybe I’ll share it later in a podcast, or drop a snippet in a future blog 😉). I first drafted a chapter in 2018, and when I read it again recently, I thought: This isn’t bad. It just needs a little love. It reminded me that my creativity has always been waiting for me in the background, even when I didn’t claim it.

Around that same time, I was also obsessed with the app Episode. If you grew up in the early 2000s, you probably remember it the interactive storytelling app where you could play through romance or drama scenarios like a digital TV show. I didn’t just play it; I tried to write my own story on there. I had characters, dialogue, scenes, everything planned out. The only problem was the coding. It frustrated me, and eventually, it made the process less enjoyable. But still I had multiple drafts, and I was determined. Looking back, I see how much ambition I had to make Westbrook High into something more, maybe even animated. At the time, I didn’t think of that as creativity. I just thought it was me messing around with an app. But now, I realize it was another way I was reaching for writing, another way of telling.

And when I think back even further, I remember middle school. We had this writing contest, citywide, or maybe nationwide, I don’t even remember. I didn’t win, but I placed somewhere in the top for my school. At the time, I didn’t care much. I was just a kid happy to eat the pizza and get the little certificate they gave out. But looking back now, I see it differently. Even then, writing was already carving out a place for me, quietly putting me in rooms I didn’t expect to be in.

That’s the thing about writing and speaking. They’re both ways of telling, but for me, writing has always been the one that carries my voice the strongest. It’s how I process, how I create, how I remember myself. And maybe I didn’t see it before but it’s always been there.

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