“I never asked to be the mirror that reflects a soul's truth back into its face, but what a glorious view. As a silent witness, I watch souls consume themselves in an inferno created by the awareness of their own tragic reality. I write only to…"(Lacey B'Rag)
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“Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” (Cesar A. Cruz).
Literary Collection
Black Balloons and Dancing with Demons Available on Amazon (Ebook and Paperback)
Black Balloons and Dancing with Demons is a journey through the creative mind of a trauma survivor. Through literary expression, this work exposes a deep inner world that doubles as both a gothic fantasy and a metaphorical representation of traumas emotional impact. Trauma is something that infects the mind and leads a person into a dark abyss, eventually confronted with the face of death. Although everything in this work is fictional; it accurately reflects what trauma feels like and illustrates its progression through a unique lens. When the demons torture and consume the mind, death becomes a sweet release. However, the person that must be created to survive the inner war must walk in darkness between depravity and desire. Step into a world of passion and pain where survival depends on escaping the embrace of trauma.
Excerpt from Text: “Blackness… like a never ending hollow void, an abyss of solitude, it begs me to surrender to its embrace. The pit of despair weeps for validation; the cries are an all too familiar sound. For the longest time I never dared to walk blindly into the void’s embrace. But it existed in me against my will, beckoning to be seen, pulsating, breathing, like a living biosphere reserved for the lost. I could feel the energy of the evil that lived there brush against my skin, like the flames of a blazing fire. It desired me even lusted for me, in ways that words cannot describe. There were many places I had created in the confines of my mind that were filled with beauty and peace, but I could not remember ever creating a place so damned and forsaken.”
Explicit Content Warning: This book is a work of fiction intended for a mature audience.
It contains graphic scenes of sex and violence that may be disturbing to some readers.
Release Date Fall 2025
Excerpt from Text: "I ran my fingers through my long silver hair that was once blacker than ebony timbers. I never thought I would live to be 103 years old. All my beauty had faded away, swallowed up in the sands of time. I secured my robe tighter around my neck as a chill blew through the early morning air. I was now exhausted and frail, my strength and resilience faded with everything else that was who I was. I had not only lived; I had survived and secured a future for all that resided in the Kingdom. I spent my time in contemplation, waiting for the next lost soul to enter my room seeking truth. I had become the oldest and wisest elder in the land.
From my private balcony I gazed East, out across the river. I loved to watch the midnight sky transform into day through an elaborate display of color, always changing and never the same. The colors merged together and shifted from light to dark, in the same way a life evolves through a myriad of experiences and events. The wonder of one’s life can always be found when looking back and turning the kaleidoscope of memories long enough. Eventually, all the colorful fragments and shards will reveal the beauty concealed amongst the tragedies. My name is Odessa, Queen of Eldorean, and if you sit quietly, I will tell you what I have seen through my kaleidoscope eyes across the abyss of time."