Dearest Squad,
“Always write when you’re in love.”
My mother said this to me once upon a time and, like many such things she’s said to me over the years (“Everything happens for a reason,” “Go write me a new fairy tale”), it stuck with me. Keep in mind—this is my mother we’re talking about. Mom Kontis. OG Mama Woodcutter. These words were not just some lofty platitude for her constantly scribbling daughter.
This was an order.
My mother was my first first-reader. She still reads all my drafts. (She’s probably reading this right now—hi, Mom!) She tells me if something hits wrong. She asks questions. She fixes typos. She pulls no punches. If my writing manages to make her cry, I know that is a mark of excellence.
When well-published writers give advice to newbies on panels, they’ll say, “Don’t let your mother edit your books.” I laugh every time. They’ve never met my mother.
It’s safe to say Mom knows my writing really well. She also knows me.
I…have always loved love.
I love the idea of being in love. I love falling in love. I love actually being in love. I wholeheartedly admire people who have been able to sustain love for decades. There are different species and varieties and flavors of love, and I love every one of them. When I was a small child I used to lock myself in the bathroom with a cassette recorder and give TED talks about how there was not enough love in this world, and how important it was for us all to just love each other. (Unfortunately, all those cassette tapes eventually got lost. But my little sister remembers. I was 100% a Buddhist ahead of my time. )
When I fall in love with something (or someone), I dive in headfirst and go full immersion.
That first part, too—that’s the best. There’s a beautiful feeling of euphoria that comes with falling in love. Everything is shiny, the sky is bluer, and everything’s coming up roses.
If you think emotion doesn’t affect writing, you’ve never met a poet. My mother has read enough of my work over the years to know: Alethea does her best work in that mindset.
Twenty-two years ago, I fell in love with a boy so hard that I barely ate or slept for two weeks. I wrote a story during that time—it took me two days. The first day I wrote 250 words. The second day I wrote 9000. That story was called “Sunday.” It was published in Realms of Fantasy magazine…and then went on to become a little novel called Enchanted.
I have never had a 9000-word day again in my life. But I still fall in love. A lot. Lately, it’s been happening about once a year. Usually in the Spring.
In 2018, it was storm chasing.
In 2019, it was also storm chasing, but I knew what I was doing this time, and I got to meet and spend the season with our whole extended international storm chase family.
In 2020, it was the Saturday Songwriters.
In 2021, it was Egypt.
In 2022, it was K-dramas (and The Rose).
In 2023, it was VANNER (and K-pop in general).
In 2024, it was Korea (and my new VVS friends from all over the world).
In 2025, it was becoming a product reviewer for my Magic Shop (did you know I had a Magic Shop full of goodies?) and TikTok. (Yeah, not the healthiest relationship. But I certainly learned a lot, made a little money, and laid the groundwork for Future Alethea.)
So…it’s 2026 now. I started out this year as horribly depressed and anxiety-ridden as I was in 2021 after Petra died. But the jade plant by my front door burst into flowers in February, and I was reminded that I shouldn’t give up hope. Because Spring historically—and pretty regularly—has presented me with something for my heart to fall madly in love with.
What is it this year? I don’t know. Maybe it’s BTS. Maybe it’s this book. Maybe it’s something I don’t know about yet that will come completely out of left field, like most of those loves that came before it. Maybe by the time this essay is published, it will be SO obvious to you that this sentence will make you laugh. I hope that’s true.
But I have hope.
Our sweet Hawk was desperately in need some of that same kind of hope. So I gave it to him.
Love you all so very much (and I have from the moment my Brute Squad made themselves known in 2012),
xox
Princess Alethea
✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨
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