My face responds without authorization from my brain, so the resulting smile feels like the biggest, most unguarded, goofiest smile I’ve ever unleashed in my entire life. I didn’t even know my face could do this. It’s like there were hidden zippers in my cheeks. Jesus. This must be what feelings are. This is why people write poems! I get it now. I get it, and I want more.

It was funny, she thought, but her smile turned wistful because she had nobody to tell.

A pause came between them, and it was so full of Akiva that Karou imagined she could smell him.

The audacity to love. Do you know what a gift that is?

... and holy hell the chocolate is so intense and pure it should be named an element and given a spot on the periodic table. It would be Ch, which isn't even taken.

...magic was ugly—-a hard bargain with the universe, a calculus of pain.

Like a magpie, I am a scavenger of shiny things: fairy tales, dead languages, weird folk beliefs, fascinating religions, and more.