Outlines begin with a vibe

If you’re here, you probably already know I write dark, romantic stories. What you might not know is that I don’t outline them the way normal people do.

For me, it all begins with a vibe.

Write From Tension

I build worlds first. Entire ecosystems. I want to know what the air smells like. What the religion looks like. Who holds power, who resents it, who breaks it. I create character bibles that read like psychological case files. I sketch calendars that don’t exist. I draft scenes that never make it into the book just to understand how two people would argue when no one is watching.

I don’t write from plot.

I write from tension.

I don’t separate emotion from structure. For me, they’re the same thing. If a scene doesn’t make me uncomfortable in some way, if it doesn’t force a character to confront something they’ve been avoiding, it probably doesn’t belong. I’m less interested in what happens than in why it hurts.

I write slowly on purpose. I sit with characters until I understand not just what they want, but what they’re lying to themselves about. I ask what they fear losing more than their life. I ask what they would sacrifice to be chosen. Those answers shape the story more than any plot twist ever could.

Let go of fear

I’m not afraid of intensity. I’m not afraid of characters making bad decisions. I’m not afraid of love that feels a little dangerous. But I am careful. I believe darkness works best when it’s intentional. When it serves the character, not shock value.

I write stories about power, devotion, identity, and survival because those are the questions that follow me around in real life. Fiction is just where I get to push them further.

This space is where I build those worlds. It’s where I think out loud about craft, obsession, structure, and the strange magic of making something out of nothing.

If you’re curious about how those stories come together, you’re in the right place.

This is where I start

Usually it starts with a dynamic. Two people circling each other, devotion curdling into obsession, love pressed up against something it shouldn’t survive. I follow that friction and let it spark.

My drafts are messy. I overwrite. I cut hundreds of words and add thousands more. I fall in love with scenes that have to die. I cry when I cut them and I keep writing anyway.

What drives my stories

I’m drawn to characters who want something they shouldn’t. Women who are powerful but not clean about it. Love that feels like standing too close to the edge of a cliff and not stepping back.

I care about atmosphere. Mood matters to me as much as plot. If the setting doesn’t feel lived in, if I can’t hear the floorboards or feel the weight of the silence, it’s not done.

I also don’t believe in neat endings that erase the cost of survival. My characters earn their softness. They fight for it. Sometimes they fail. Sometimes they choose wrong. Sometimes they choose themselves.

The world of Sloane Shepard is less about heroes and more about choices. Less about purity and more about consequence. Less about perfection and more about desire.

If you like your stories intense, character-driven, and a little feral around the edges, you’ll probably be comfortable here.

If not, that’s okay too.

I’m not writing to be comfortable.

I’m writing to be honest.