I’ve started this letter about two dozen times, but every time I’ve thought about posting it something else happened that seemed to derail me. If you’ve followed me on social media, you will have at least seen one or two posts over the past two months regarding the hits I’ve taken recently. For the sake of my own mental peace, I’ll refrain from regurgitating them again in this post, but to condense a whole lot of traumas into simple words– It’s been a lot. 

I haven’t had the mental fortitude (or even the honest desire) to post on social media. My website and author pages have been bare, my reader’s group has been filled with the heaviest of silence, and don’t get me started on Instagram and TikTok. 

And for an author who has chosen to go the independent route, the lack of posting means a lack of audience for my books. The ultimate kiss of death. 

I’ve had to remind myself so many times that my mental and physical recuperation deserved the break and that I didn’t owe anyone apologies for taking care of myself and my family. I stand by that. 

This letter is not an apology… but it is a love letter. 

If you’re reading this right now, it means you opened a newsletter, or clicked a link in Sweethearts or my author page. It means that even after so much silence from me you cared enough to get a bit of an update on me. 

And I appreciate you. That’s right, I’m talking to YOU! 

In my first tentative steps back into the online world, I’ve been met with so much love from old readers and new readers. I’ve gotten DMs from readers and fellow authors alike to tell me they saw a post of mine they related to or that they picked up a book of mine and couldn’t put it down. 

I can’t tell you what those messages have done to my heart. 

It’s been the best kind of overwhelming. 

In the coming days I plan to take a few more steps in a few new directions, feeling confident in the knowledge that even though I’ve been gone there’s a small corner of the social world that may have missed my posts and my words, and that same corner group of people is waiting to welcome me back. 

Thank you for showing up for me. 

Thank you for supporting me even with just the simplest comments filled with well wishes during this hiatus of recuperation. 

And thank you for welcoming me back… 

XOXO, 

Santana