Blog Archives
Friendship and Abandonment
High School Epic follows a teenage girl through her high school years in the early 1990s who struggles with issues of abandonment and with discovering who she is and who she wants to be. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My own life is definitely the inspiration for High School Epic. I had a friendship and boyfriend breakup at the onset of high school that resulted in a type of heartbreak that only emphasized the feelings I had buried of abandonment from when my father left us (the first time) when I was six. Although he did return and remain with my mother for another 11 years, their relationship was shaky at best. Deep down, I was always anticipating when he would leave again for good.
In many contemporary coming-of-age novels, authors often draw on their own life experiences. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Yes! Every event is based on real events from my middle and high school years. Characters are derived from real friends and classmates. The main character has traits that are similar to me, but she really is her own person and not me.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Friendship and abandonment are the most important themes in the book, even within the context of the romance that happens.
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
I have a current project that is part memoir and part short story collection, all with the themes of relationships, love, loss, and heartbreak. I’m hoping it will come out sometime by the end of next year.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Left behind, Dani meets Kevin Martin, an outsider who seems to give her everything her world is missing. Until betrayal cuts deep, leaving her reeling once more. Dani’s circle keeps reshaping again and again: new friends like Ryan O’Leary offer comfort, while old wounds resurface.
Through each season of high school, Dani is tested through heartbreak, mistakes, and hilarious missteps, as she wrestles with who she is and who she wants to be.
Told in a unique blend of letters and chapters, Hannah R. Goodman’s HIGH SCHOOL EPIC captures the chaos of teenage life in the early 1990s with raw honesty, humor, and heart.
Embrace the Ups and Downs
Dorm to Doorstep is a candid, big-sister-style guide that blends personal stories, tough truths, and practical advice to help young women navigate confidence, safety, relationships, and self-discovery as they enter adulthood. Why was this an important book for you to write?
As my daughter was approaching the end of her high school years, I observed the juxtaposition between the time in a young woman’s life when she is exerting her independence, crossed with really needing advice, and the last person she wanted to hear from is MOM. So, I packaged “evergreen” motherly advice into a fun, humor-filled yet sometimes serious book that attracts the reader with a structure resembling social media – colorful, short snippets and stories – a book that they can pick up for the AHA of the day, put down, and pick up again at their leisure.
Your book emphasizes personal choice. What experiences most shaped your belief that “you control you?”
Every day when we wake up, we can control one thing – us. Things will happen, people will say things, and we will make mistakes. How we perceive and interpret these things will drive our reactions and our learning.
I experienced some rough times as an adolescent and young adult. Circumstances I could not control. For many years, I sometimes chose to let insecurities and fear drive my decision-making. One thing that always kept me going, however, and led to real change was accepting that I am not a victim of anything that comes my way. I am in control of what I do about it. This is transformative when facing a challenge; I like to say you do you and I’ll do me, respectfully. I control the direction that I go, and my path is my own. My favorite thought each day is “Go out and make it a great day!” And, as you noticed, that is a consistent theme in Dorm to Doorstep. I believe the earlier young people feel empowered to forge their path, look at things in a proactive way, and control their emotions, the more successful they will be in facing adversity and achieving their goals.
If a reader could walk away remembering only one piece of advice from the book, what would you want it to be?
It is the first page of Dorm to Doorstep: Life is a journey; there is not one path. Embrace the ups and downs. And, I try to be a cheerleader in the journey by sharing tips, tidbits, and tales to help the journey be smoother, humor-filled, and fun.
How do you hope parents or mentors use this book when supporting the young women in their lives?
I view the book as a platform for discussion; to provoke honesty and sharing of personal stories to make connections and build relationships. If I were to visualize this, it would be a Mom and daughter having a fun conversation sparked from one of the pages in which they share their own thoughts and experiences as a way to bond and grow together.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Instagram | TikTok | Amazon
Are you ready for your own PERSONAL CHEERLEADER?
Are you ready to HAVE FUN?
Dorm to Doorstep is a fun, engaging, coming of age/adulting guide written just for you, the young woman heading out on her own! Organized in layers, just like your favorite ice cream sundae:
Glow Up, Girl: Personal Growth & Insights
Glam Bam, Thank You Ma’am (the sauce): Fashion, Beauty & Wellness
Laced with Grace (the whipped cream): Relationships & Demeanor
Gather Round with Goodness (the cherry on top): Tips & Tidbits for Daily Living
Author Hilary Afshary dives into life lessons in full, living color. Every page is bright, just like your future, with colored sprinkles of learning scattered throughout. Oh, and watch for RED moments-cold, hard truths that pop up when you need a reality check.
Dorm to Doorstep can be read page to page or casually open for the AHA of the day; picked up again and put down at leisure.
Every word comes from the author’s place of truth from her own life and raising a daughter. Thoughtful, respectful, and real-words that wink and say Trust me, You WANT to read this. Words that cause pause, stories that stick and moments that will leave you smiling- or even laughing out loud.
Dorm to Doorstep is the perfect gift for a birthday, holiday, graduation, care package, college send off or just because…it is your manual for adulting 101 and living life away from home.
Refuge for Human Civilization
Fragments of Light follows a young Archivist named Keela as she uncovers relics of a forgotten civilization while ancient machines awaken beneath the ice. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Winter. It all started with that. I live where winter is a VERY present concept, and as much of an avid reader as I am, rarely did I ever find a compelling SciFi story that took place in winter or somewhere where winter was the norm. So I figured that starting everything there would be something that could generate a different type of texture to the narrative. And one of those threads is the impact – or I should probably say “impacts” – of climate change. As harsh an environment as the Arctic is, climate change has a disproportionate effect on it; everything seems magnified. So to me, that area would likely be a natural refuge for human civilization should the World go to Hell in a handbasket…
Keela’s emotional journey feels incredibly intimate. Was her character shaped by any personal experiences or themes you wanted to explore?
No personal experience per se. However, being a parent, I see that many young people – and having been one myself – are unsure of the potential in them; of the strength that inhabits them. Sometimes it’s easier to wait for someone else to do what needs to be done, but most of the time, YOU could do it, and you could probably do it better. As for the archivist part, that’s purely projection: I’m a big history nerd! I just find it fascinating – good and bad – how technology throughout the ages shaped humans; how it creates a virtuous (or perverted, depending on where you stand) cycle where humans create technology that changes them and allows them to create more “advanced” or different technology that in turn changes them again, and so on and so forth.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Resilience. Ambiguity. Adventure. Friendship. And as corny as it sounds, humor. Because I really do not want to live in a world where even during the worst of the worst we are not able to smile or laugh. Maybe not at what’s happening, but surely at how we deal with ourselves and others.
The machines beneath the ice feel both mythical and scientific. What was your process for designing their nature and purpose?
Well, in Fragments of Light, machines are not generally “under the ice.” Some are, but it’s more because of their purpose, really. In the subsequent books, we see that Keela and Anina need to go outside the safety of their known world – the Arctic – and cross entire continents to continue their quest and get to interact with many different societies, machines, and people.
.
Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that machines are left over from a technologically advanced world that existed pre-Fracture. One where geo-engineering was seen as the way to stop/reverse/curb global environmental collapse. Think huge sun reflecting mirrors, carbon catchers, water purifiers, methane gas processors, etc. These would need to be massive, on a scale that would blow your mind, in order to affect the climate of a system as big and complex as the Earth. And you are right, as with anything that is old, eventually they did drift into mythology or quasi-myth.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Keela was meant to guard the past, not be claimed by it. In the frozen city of Lumik, she touches a relic that hums with memory, and nothing stays buried. Her quiet life shatters, pulling her into a truth no one else will face.
With Anina, a gifted technician who reads machines like language, Keela follows its call across a fractured Earth. Engines stir beneath snow. Salvage-built cities whisper of healing long abandoned. Wonder ignites, but so does danger, as rivals twist awe into power.
This is not destiny. It is choice. And when no one else steps forward, Keela must.
For fans of Skyward, Scythe, The 100, and Ship Breaker. Discovery-driven sci-fi with brave heroines, hidden tech, and the courage to do what must be done. Scroll up to begin.
The Pain of the Past
Caroline’s Purpose follows a once-promising athlete and equestrian who, after an accident, struggles to navigate college, broken relationships, and haunting memories, while trying to find purpose in a life that feels hollow. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My inspiration for the setup of my story was my own journey. I tried to be the best at different things, only to come out on the other side hollow and disappointed. I wanted to encourage readers that God always has the best purpose for our lives. We don’t have to rely on ourselves. We don’t have to strive to be the best at something for fulfillment or to find our identity or value. Our identity and value are found in who God made us to be. Caroline needed to discover that by losing the identities she had worked endlessly for. Her pain is relatable for anyone who has lost dreams or the identities they created for themselves. God uses our pain to bring us back to Him and the value He created us with
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
There’s a whole lot of me in this story. I played softball in high school and was a pitcher. I chose not to play in college because I didn’t think I was good enough. I was offered an academic scholarship to the University of Arizona. I lived out my dreams of pitching for the U of A through Caroline. At U of A, I majored in Equine Science. A riding accident in middle school led me to playing softball. The Equine Program at the U of A was my return to the horse world, like it is for Caroline in the book. Luna, the weanling, is based on the weanling I was assigned in the weanling class. Her name is Goldee, and she is now my horse. Edison is based off of the real-life Edison I leased and then owned until he had to be put down two years ago. Edison is the horse who gave me my confidence back. He wasn’t abused, like the Edison in the novel, but he was a huge part of my healing and moving forward.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The themes that were important for me to explore in this book were God’s purpose for each life and healing from the pain of the past. It is easy to get stuck in the pain, especially when multiple dreams have fallen apart. It is easy to feel like God has forgotten about us or doesn’t care about us. I wanted to create a story to show readers that God always loves and always cares and always has a purpose for us. I wanted to create characters that would show that healing is possible.
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
I am currently working on the sequel.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
When she meets Connor Taylor, Caroline finds that he is able to relate to her pain more than she would have thought possible.
With the help of Edison, an abused horse, Connor seeks to help Caroline learn to use her past as a stepping stone towards the future.
As her relationship with Connor grows, Caroline must make a choice to conquer her fear or to stay where she feels safe. Their relationship and her future hang in the balance.
Grow, Evolve, and Blossom
Garden Quartz and Paper Flowers is a collection of stories and poems centered around a girl navigating the trauma of abuse and the healing process. Why was this an important book for you to write?
It was important for me to write, Garden Quartz and Paper Flowers as a way to finally close a chapter of my own life. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember: poetry, music, and short stories but I lost all my original works in a very traumatic incident. That use to haunt me, endlessly.
I don’t know of many stories that tell the tale of resilience, that transcends through time with authentic but healthy coping mechanisms. In this story, the main character Calla recognizes that self-work was required to set her free. For you never have to be your childhood or adulthood circumstances. Those moments will shape you but you should not allow them to break you.
My fondness for precious gemstones and flowers with inspirational meaning were the metaphorical tools necessary to breathe life into this piece. Stones are shaped by their environment. Flowers can weather the storm. Both survive under tough pressure.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in putting together this collection?
My biggest challenge was simply starting. For years, I dwelled on it subconsciously, should I pick up my pen again and recreate what was destroyed. Eventually, I got to a place where I said this is going to be therapeutic for you and it’s time to get it done. My second challenge was struggling with remembering much of what I originally wrote, but once I started to complete the individual pieces one by one, I was able to weave them together into one fluid story. You can delay the inevitable but it’s still has to get done, even when it’s overdue. I also needed to live a little bit longer, to complete this work of art in full circle.
Have you received any feedback from readers that surprised or moved you?
I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this piece of art. I’m honestly VERY surprised. I didn’t think it would move so many people to connect with it so deeply, especially since it’s a fiction. I know Art imitates life, and I know that some of the things I wrote could align as a lived experience rather than a collection of different occurrences. I just didn’t know it would resonate with some many people.
“Not for the faint of heart,” was the common themed remark. Which to me, shows I planted a seed and I hope it grows. Uncomfort as it relates to knowledge, has always been a sign that I’m headed in the proper direction. I remind myself every day, learn something new, try something different and feel something real.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from Garden Quartz and Paper Flowers?
I want readers to know that it’s okay to feel every emotion in the moment—but it’s not okay to live in the negative ones. We have to find the strength to rise, overcome pain, and to keep pushing forward. It’s not easy, but NOTHING in life is simple. After the all hard work, aches and pains, I promise greatness is waiting on the other side, ready to greet you.
You’re not your past. You’re not even your present. And you’re not even alone. Continue to actively grow, evolve, and blossom into who you’re meant to be. It’s time to do your due diligence. It’s time to rediscover your resilience. It’s time to heal. Let’s do this!
Pain has Transformed me. . .
Step into this immersive garden of ruin and bloom— a memoir told in fragments of memory, poetry, and survival.
This is the story of a girl named Calla, rooted in silence, shaped by shadow, and determined to rise.
Because not all wounds bleed. Not all truths are spoken.
And you never have to become what tried to break you.
Garden Quartz and Paper Flowers
T.L. Garrett’s Garden Quartz & Paper Flowers is a raw and unflinching collection of stories and poems that trace the life of Calla, a girl navigating the deep scars of trauma, abuse, and healing. The book reads like a patchwork of memory. Each chapter a petal torn from her past, revealing a life marked by generational pain, silence, and survival. Garrett writes in a style that blends memoir and fiction, pulling readers into scenes that feel heartbreakingly real. The imagery of flowers, roots, and stones threads through the work, symbolizing growth from ruin and the fragile beauty that comes from endurance.
The writing is heavy with emotion, but there’s a strange softness to it too. A tenderness that lingers even in the ugliest moments. Garrett doesn’t hold back, and it shows. The prose feels like a scream written into poetry. I found myself pausing often, sometimes just to process. There’s a rhythm in her storytelling that’s both jarring and intimate. Her voice feels lived-in, like someone telling a truth they carried for too long. Some passages are uncomfortable to read, not because of how they’re written, but because of how real they are. You can feel the child’s confusion, the teenager’s anger, and the adult’s reckoning all colliding in one soul. It’s unsettling. It’s human.
What struck me most was Garrett’s way of turning pain into purpose. She doesn’t ask for pity. She asks for understanding. The book dives into spiritual themes like healing, intuition, and forgiveness, but never in a way that feels forced. Her honesty feels sacred. I loved how she wove resilience through the narrative like a vine wrapping around broken glass. It’s not a perfect book in a technical sense, but that’s exactly what makes it so powerful. Her writing feels like it’s bleeding onto the page, and yet, there’s beauty in every wound.
Garden Quartz & Paper Flowers isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for readers who have lived through darkness and clawed their way toward light, or for those who want to understand what that fight looks like. It’s for anyone who believes survival itself is an art form. If you want something real, something that cracks you open and reminds you what it means to be alive, this book is worth every page.
Pages: 258 | ASIN : B0FJ4XM2JL
Unexpected Surrealism
The Queen’s Dark Ambition follows a fourteen-year-old girl whose struggle to belong in a new town plunges her into a sinister fairy world where trust is perilous and survival demands courage. What was the inspiration for the setup of your novel?
What prompted me to write the first few chapters was when I dreamt of standing in a local wood, jumping over a stream, and finding a whole strange world of hostile fairies on the other side. Those first few chapters were written over ten years ago, when I was still at University, and the story itself developed slowly since then. I guess that shows the power of an idea or story, that it can stay with you.
I intentionally wanted the main character’s curiosity towards a stranger she meets to be what draws her back, as equally, if not stronger than, the dangerous pull of the wood and the fairy abode. A core part of the story explores the development of their relationship. The stranger, Bower, who is a wizard, helps Stacy, the main character, to question life and explore the bigger issues, whilst untangling the true and unexpected nature of the fairy domain.
A pivotal part of the story is about her finding not only her courage, but her voice as well, as fighting for what’s right. I initially thought of her as an introvert, like myself.
It wasn’t until much later in the revision and editing process that she really started to surprise me with just how strong a character she is and what she’s capable of.
Stacy’s voice feels raw and unfiltered, especially in her messy emotions. What inspired you to write her with such honesty rather than softening her flaws?
I’m an emotionally driven writer and love exploring characters’ thoughts and emotions. The protagonist, Stacy, is a teenager, and I craved leaning into that emotional space for the sake of the reader, for them to be taken along for the ride and feel those messy emotions along with Stacy.
The story shifts from domestic drama to eerie fantasy, almost like stepping from one world into another. How did you balance the real-life struggles with the supernatural elements?
I don’t think it’s much of a balancing act, but a question of putting Stacy’s domestic drama into perspective. She’s still obsessed with her phone and is wrestling with teenage worries. She realises the importance of her friends, from whom she is estranged, as well as her parents, whose love she’s been doubting recently, what with a family move and arguing with her Mum. Her friends have also shunned her due to the move. Despite this, she would do anything to protect them all and to get back to them, even in a perilous and unfamiliar world.
Throughout the story, I’ve sprinkled in some real-life grit, which hopefully makes it more believable and resonates widely with readers. I think that’s the glue between the two worlds, as well as seeing both through Stacy’s eyes. I hope I’ve created moments of unexpected surrealism and joy from Stacy’s perspective, too, though.
The fairies in your book are both beautiful and menacing. What drew you to portray them in such a dangerous, unsettling way?
I really wanted the main villain to be alluring to Stacy and to readers, hence why Elantra, the Queen, is beautiful too, to create jarring and unexpected undertones. Honestly, I think the most dangerous thing about the Queen could be that she’s relatable, and, at times, Stacy has sympathy for her. She gets under Stacy’s skin, and Stacy wants to understand how she got like that.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Life for fourteen-year-old Stacy takes a terrifying turn when she discovers a parallel world hidden within the mysterious woods near her new home. After witnessing a child’s sacrifice, she becomes trapped in a realm where fairies aren’t the gentle creatures of bedtime stories. Under the watchful eye of Bower, a centuries-old wizard bearing the weight of his own tragic past, Stacy uncovers a sinister plot involving imprisoned children and a pure malevolence that will stop at nothing to claim the power of the stars.
Can Stacy find the strength to challenge a Queen who once turned her back on love itself? And if she fails, what fate awaits not only the imprisoned children, but the entire human world?
Are you drawn to magical realms, powerful adversaries, and tales of courage in the face of darkness? Then you’ll be spellbound by this captivating story.
If you like authors Laini Taylor, Melissa Albert or Holly Black, you may like The Queen’s Dark Ambition.
At the core of this low spice, character driven fantasy, Stacy’s journey explores themes of found families, fitting in and finding her voice, which will resonate with many YA readers.
If you enjoy these themes and fillings, The Queen’s Dark Ambition, may appeal to you: belonging/identity, glow up/ fish out of water, chosen girl, hidden heritage, confidence/self-love, power and agency, coming of age, angst & grit, plot-twists, mean girl, tear-jerkers, end of the world, clean Christian mystery.
The Queen’s Dark Ambition
The Queen’s Dark Ambition follows fourteen-year-old Stacy, newly uprooted from her old life and friends, as she struggles to adapt to an unfamiliar town and strained family relationships. Drawn into the nearby Whispering Woods, first by curiosity, then by strange dreams, she discovers a hidden and dangerous world of fairies, rituals, and missing children. Caught between her fear, her longing to belong, and the peril of the Queen’s power, Stacy must navigate deception, captivity, and the blurred lines between friend and foe in a fight for survival. The story blends contemporary teen angst with a dark, magical undercurrent, shifting from domestic drama to eerie fantasy with ease.
I was struck by how raw and unfiltered Stacy’s voice felt. The writing doesn’t shy away from messy emotions like resentment, loneliness, and embarrassment that so many coming-of-age stories tend to polish smooth. The family tension is sharply drawn, and it hit me harder than I expected. It’s not just background noise; it shapes Stacy’s every decision. That made the jump into the fantasy elements more jarring, in a good way. The sudden emergence of the fairies and the sinister Queen felt like stumbling into a nightmare while you’re still mad about a real-world fight, which gave the whole story an uneasy energy I couldn’t shake.
There were moments where I wanted the plot to push forward, especially in the early chapters when the family drama circled. But when the fantasy plot took center stage, the imagery was vivid and unsettling, fairies with ghostly skirts, glowing globes in the trees, and a captive’s cell full of terrified kids. These scenes stuck in my mind. The writing has a blunt honesty in its emotional beats but a dreamlike quality in its supernatural ones, which makes for an unusual and memorable mix.
I’d recommend The Queen’s Dark Ambition to readers who like their fantasy tinged with real-life grit, and who aren’t afraid of a story that lingers on discomfort before offering resolution. It’s a good fit for teens and adults who enjoy moody, character-driven tales with a sharp edge of menace. If you like your magic beautiful but dangerous, and your heroines flawed but determined, this book will keep you turning the pages.
Pages: 342 | ASIN : B0F324QLFL
LITERARY TITAN 