Equal parts confidence & chaos.

Meet Reta Jayne.

My pulse quickens & my hands grow clammy just thinking about writing this page. When I force myself to be honest about it, I have to admit there's a voice in my head constantly telling me I'm not good enough.

I call her The Bitch.

She's not a literal voice. But she's persistent & nasty, nonetheless.

Who are you to boast? What have you really accomplished? What really warrants a page such as this? Who is going to care about who Reta Jayne is?

But, I'm used to the constant battle in my mind. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly after the birth of my third child, a lot of how my brain works & how I react to my emotions started to make a lot more sense!

I'm innately familiar with mental illness & executive dysfunction. That's why, as a psychological romantic suspense author, I explore themes of both mental health & self-care in my stories. You'll find characters living with bipolar disorder or depression, for example. It's not necessarily the main story, but it's part of the story, just as it is IRL (in real life).

Isn't that how it should be?

Representation comes in many forms. Why not represent the mental health community by inserting real-life internal struggles into what we read for entertainment? Because, reading isn't just for entertainment; reading is also for mental health. Seeing how a flawed but loveable character navigates obstacles in messy, mostly successful ways is empowering.

That's who I am. That's what I write.