In this week’s episode of The Femme and the Fire, I talk about where I’m at as a Midwestern trans woman living in Illinois and how grateful I am for the protections I still have here under Governor Pritzker while planning for the medical steps ahead in my transition.

On the “femme” side, I share updates on my writing. I’m still waiting to hear back from the agent I queried for In the Devil’s Wake, and in the meantime I’ve been refining my structural satire series starting with This Machine Ridicules Fascists. I’m deep in the historical framing—drawing parallels not just to Nazi Germany but also to the fall of the Roman Republic under Julius Caesar. I even read portions of my draft on World War I and how instability and exhaustion can open the door to concentrated power.

I also talk about the many fiction ideas building in my head—from Unspoken to other long-developing projects—and what it’s like trying to move all of them forward at once. I touch on taxes, Medium royalties, launching my own movie publication (CineCraft within The Film Forge), and the frustrations of editorial gatekeeping.

On the “fire” side, I reflect on Trump’s presidency, economic instability, and why resistance and civic awareness still matter.

This week on The Femme and the Fire, I talk through where I’m at as a writer, a trans woman, and a person trying to stay grounded while everything feels loud and unsettled. I share updates on Unspoken: A Queer Kind of Quiet—including how a simple game of 20 Questions between two characters helped unlock a more natural, conversational rhythm—and where I’m landing with a growing multi-book satire project examining power, authoritarianism, and the forces that helped shape the current political moment.

I also reflect on the strange reality of juggling too many story ideas at once, trusting the writing process instead of forcing it, and what it means to keep going creatively while still waiting on responses, resources, and momentum. Along the way, I touch on the Super Bowl culture war nonsense, media spectacle, and why community matters more than ever right now.

Most of all, this episode is about persistence—especially for trans listeners. About refusing to go quiet, continuing toward transition and wholeness despite fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty, and reminding ourselves that we don’t get through moments like this alone. If you’re still showing up, still trying, still imagining something better—this one’s for you.

In this episode of The Femme and the Fire, I talk through a week defined by waiting, working, and refusing to stand still. I share an update on still waiting for a response to my agent query for In the Devil’s Wake while continuing to shape Unspoken, an LGBT (lesbian) love story that feels especially personal—one rooted in safety, connection, and letting a story find its own path.

I reflect on how my different projects carry different emotional centers: family and immigration, resistance and reclaimed agency, loss of self and the work of recovery. I also outline the expanding scope of my political satire project, This Machine Ridicules Fascists, including its planned sequels and the anti-authoritarian lineage running through it, from Woody Guthrie to punk.

The episode turns outward to politics and media, touching on resistance to ICE, concerns about authoritarian drift, and growing distrust of legacy media. I close with personal reflections on being trans, healing from repression and trauma, pursuing gender-affirming care, and choosing persistence, community, and joy over silence.