Welcome to In A Brown Study

in a brown study – A state of deep contemplation or rumination, as of a reverie, daydream, or meditation. It originally meant a melancholic or depressed mood or state (dating from at least the 1500s), but has since largely lost that association.

As a person with many mental health and physical health cycles, this newsletter can and most likely will err on the side of being quite vulnerable, often in a not so upbeat way. That is not to say it will all be doom and gloom, but this idiom “in a brown study” made my heart leap when I first read it, how well it fits the way I think, the way I write, and is a cheeky nod to my love for the dark academia aesthetic

Why subscribe?

I want to get beyond the character restricted comment sections of Instagram, beyond the lost tweets of Twitter, beyond the algorithmic newsfeed of Facebook. If you are reading this, I imagine you do too. I love how Substack is set up for us to connect. No ads, just the content you sign up for. And I have made a commitment to myself to keep this newsletter free. No paywalls, just connecting.

Some things you’ll find:

• numbered list posts for days nothing connects together thematically but everything feels important just the same

• long form musings on writing, daily observations, and being a queer writer

• updates on my Works In Progress (currently: a queer dark academia themed project)

• and only time will tell what else!

Lastly, if you want to follow me on all the places, you can also find me on my blog, Instagram, Twitter, and GoodReads.