I wanted to share a quick update and a moment of gratitude.

In a few weeks, an essay I wrote will be published by The Advocate. It's scheduled to go live on March 2nd, and I'm still processing how I'm feeling and how much that means to me.

This essay was rooted in the same emotional space as First, Do No Harm. It's based on lived experience. On queer love. And grief, and in the complicated space where personal truth meets public systems that weren't built with "others" in mind. Like the book, it was written from the heart and a place of integrity.

When I first pitched it, I didn't know where it would land or if it would land at all. Having it accepted by a publication that has represented so much to the LGBTQ+ community feels both grounding and surreal. I'm deeply thankful for the editors who saw value in the story and trusted it with their platform.

The essay explores how the overdose crisis erases queer relationships long before death, through medical systems that don't recognize us as family, love that's questioned, and grief that demands we prove our place was real. It's a witness to something I lived through and something too many others are still navigating alone.

I'll share the link when it goes live on March 2nd. For now, I just wanted to mark this extraordinary moment. 

It's a reminder that stories written quietly, carefully, and with intention can travel farther than we expect.

Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, and supported my work so far. It means more than I can adequately express, and I'm excited to keep going.

Warmly - J.T.