When I was 11, my nana bought me the first book in a series that turned me into an avid reader. My dad lived down the street from a library, and every other day in the summer, I would walk to that library and spend hours in the stacks. I read everything from fantasy to Amish love stories. I was discovering new worlds and different ways of life, and every story broadened my imagination. In all of my reading and searching, there was something I had the hardest time finding. Something that made me reconsider my own existence in this world. No one in these epic adventure and love stories ever looked like me. I was a mixed girl and couldn’t find my identity represented in any of the thousands of pages I had read. If I didn’t see myself between these covers, who else couldn’t? I never saw my family represented in the pages, my mixed-race family, and I hardly saw different sexual orientations. I was 13 years old and felt as if my family didn’t deserve representation. I knew that wasn’t true, and decided that I would do everything I could to never have someone feel that way if they picked my books up. As I’ve lived and learned and grown, I also realized the difficulty of just existing as a black, lesbian woman.
So what can you expect?
Queer stories (always)
One FMC will always be mixed or black
People just… existing in life
Different backgrounds and ethnicities
Who is Adriana?
Long-time writer and full-time bourbon connoisseur Adriana Sargent creates character-driven, emotion-inducing fantasy novels that are guaranteed to transport you to another world. Her characters, while clever and cunning, will enthrall you with raw reactions, desperate decisions, and foolish fearlessness.
In her spare time, you can find Adriana curled up with a good book, practicing tarot, or judging wine while binge-watching Supernatural.
At least, that’s what it says on my official bio. In reality? I’ve been writing since I was about 11 years old. I remember the first book I ever finished, Lily of the Valley. I wrote that story by hand and then transferred it to digital. I convinced myself that I was going to publish it, but you know what they say… some stories are better left in the crypt with teenage angst. No? Just me? That’s fine. I even dabbled in sci-fi, created a race of aliens called Mortegouge’s, and an FMC who got power from a tub of poison. I finished that when I was about 16. It also lies in the teenage angsty graveyard on my laptop.
I started Though the Embers in “adulthood”. I had big girl money, bought a laptop, and wrote. It took 10 years to finish and get the courage to publish. I’ve published 3 works now, and even though the imposter syndrome is wicked, I will never stop because I love telling stories.