AFTER DARK

Like DOMAC, After Dark is a book I had a lot of fun putting together. And, I say ‘putting together’ because After Dark is more a compilation of my writing over the years than a novel I sat down to outline and write. 

For around ten years, I kept small snippets of writing, short story ideas, and poems, in my notes app on my phone. I had no plans to do anything with them. But then I saw the rise in poetry books and short story compilations online and decided I wanted to create one of those with my own work. 

After Dark has poems and short stories that date back to 2013 (if I remember correctly) when I was twelve years old and first started writing things down on my iPod. I selected writings from 2013 through 2021 to use in After Dark. The title came from my preference to write at night, which is why timestamps are included in the poems. I often woke up in the middle of the night to jot the ideas down. 

After Dark is more personal than my novels because it shows snippets of my life and what I was feeling at certain times across nearly a decade. It’s special to me for that reason, and I hope to release more compilations like this in the future.