About Me — ᒪᑌᑕIᗩᑎ ᖇᕼOᗪE

An accidental writer and human being trying to write it all out.

6 min read9 hours ago

The field goes quiet. Wind circles the bending grass; something like nature breathing out drifts across the soil, and flowers open beside it.

That’s roughly what writing feels like when it works.

I write fiction, poetry, and essays, and I own more novels than I’ve had time to read. What I love most is taking something vague, like a feeling, an idea that shows up for half a second, or something I noticed on the way home, and turning it into a thing you can hold.

Writing has never been a hobby for me. It’s how I make sense of things. If I haven’t written about something, I usually don’t know what I think about it yet. This page is where I put that thinking down, along with the stories and the odd bits of imagination that don’t fit anywhere else, for anyone who wants to stop for a minute and read.

“ɪꜰ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ɪꜱ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜ, ɪᴛ ʜᴀꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ.”

ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍ ꜰᴀᴜʟᴋɴᴇʀ

I fell for words early. I couldn’t get over the fact that black marks on a white page could make you cry, put a whole world in your head, or make a stranger feel understood. That turned into a habit, and the habit turned into who I am.

Posting my work still isn’t easy. Writing means showing people a piece of the inside of your head, and you never know who’s going to read it. I do it anyway, because I want to connect with people more than I’m scared of being seen.

“ʏᴏᴜʀ ɪɴᴛᴜɪᴛɪᴏɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ, ꜱᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ.”

ʀᴀʏ ʙʀᴀᴅʙᴜʀʏ

ᖴIᑕTIOᑎ

One of my stories: The Yearly Execution, Part 1

ᗰY ᖴᖇᗩGᗰEᑎTᔕ Oᖴ ᖇEᗩᒪITY

My fiction is where I build places you can get lost in, even if it’s only for a few minutes. I’m drawn to the quiet parts of people’s lives, the stretches between the big events, where the real choices get made, and you find out who someone is.

ᖴOᑕᑌᔕ

You won’t find many explosions in my stories. I’d rather zoom in on two people in a room: what they don’t say to each other, and what each of them is fighting with in private. Sometimes that’s a speculative piece that takes somewhere familiar and turns it a few degrees strange, like a world where everyone dies at midnight on their eighteenth birthday. Sometimes it’s one conversation. Either way, I’m looking for something true inside something made up.

“ᴍʏ ᴀɪᴍ ɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱɪᴍᴘʟᴇꜱᴛ ᴡᴀʏ.”

ᴇʀɴᴇꜱᴛ ʜᴇᴍɪɴɢᴡᴀʏ

ᗪᖇᗩᖴTIᑎG

Most of my stories start with one small thing: an image, a line I overheard, or a question I can’t answer by myself. I build out from there. I let my characters get things wrong, hesitate, and show their flaws, because perfect characters feel like a lie. I want an ending to be earned, even if it leaves you with a quiet kind of sadness instead of a happy one.

ᑭOETᖇY

One of my poems: A Stone Cold Heart

If fiction is building a world, poetry is boiling one moment down. I write poems when prose feels too heavy or too stiff for what happened.

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My poems are personal. They’re where I keep the feelings that won’t sit still long enough to be explained.

TᕼEᗰEᔕ

Memory, time passing, longing, loss, and the beauty in ordinary things most people walk straight past. A quiet street late at night. The color of the sky just before a storm. The silence after a hard conversation. That’s usually where a poem starts.

“ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴘᴏᴇᴍ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛʏ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ɪꜱ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴀᴍᴇ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴘᴏᴇᴍ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀᴅᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ. ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴘᴏᴇᴍ ʜᴇʟᴘꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴘᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ, ʜᴇʟᴘꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴛᴇɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ’ꜱ ᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇ ᴏꜰ ʜɪᴍꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ʜɪᴍ.”

ᴅʏʟᴀɴ ᴛʜᴏᴍᴀꜱ

In a poem, every word has to earn its place. I’ll spend hours on a single line, cutting until only the image is left. I’d rather be clear than clever. I want a poem to land because it reminds you of something you’ve felt, not because it took you three reads to work out.

To me, a poem is permission to feel something without having to explain it.

ᗩᑎᗩᒪYTIᑕᗩᒪ ESSᗩYᔕ

One of my essays: 6 Rules to Skip the Awkwardness and Master Casual Conversation

I love writing essays too. They let me come at the world from a different side, with more curiosity and a lot more arguing with myself.

TᕼEᗰEᔕ

They cover a lot of ground: literary analysis, how stories are put together, and bigger questions about culture, why people do what they do, and how we make meaning out of ordinary days.

E᙭ᑭᒪOᖇᗩTIOᑎ

I don’t treat analysis like a lab exercise. It’s another kind of storytelling. A good essay should have an arc, a moment where something clicks, and a rhythm underneath it, the same as a story. I try to take big, tangled ideas apart and put them back together so they’re easier to see.

“ɪꜰ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪɴꜱɪᴅᴇ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ɪꜱ ʀᴇᴀʟ, ᴡᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ꜰɪɴᴅ ɪᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇꜱᴛɪɴɢ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ʙᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴀʟ. ꜱᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʀɪꜱᴋ ᴘʟᴀᴄɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴀʟ ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴇɴᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴏʀᴋ. ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴀɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ᴄᴇɴᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ.”

ᴀɴɴᴇ ʟᴀᴍᴏᴛᴛ

I’m always asking why. Why do some stories stay with us for decades? Why do we keep coming back to the same themes in art? How do the stories we take in shape the choices we make? Essays let me join that bigger conversation, somewhere between how I read things and what’s true for everyone.

TᕼE ᑭᑌᖇᑭOᔕE Oᖴ ᔕᕼᗩᖇIᑎG

Writing alone is good for getting to know yourself. Writing for other people turns it into a conversation. I don’t publish here to show off. I publish because I want my words out there for people who are looking for the same things I am: real conversation, a bit of seriousness, quiet moments, and the reminder that none of us are alone in our small fights and small joys.

Every time someone stops on one of my stories, leaves a comment or highlights a line, that’s the other half of the conversation. It makes the hours of staring at a blank screen and rewriting the same paragraph worth it.

I don’t write to hand out answers or to act like I’ve got life figured out. I write to ask questions, to say thank you to life for being what it is, and to give people somewhere to slow down and feel something real.

ᖴOᒪᒪOᗯIᑎG ᗰE

Substack: https://substack.com/@lucianrhode
Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Lucian_Rhodes
Contact: lucianrhodescompany@gmail.com

ᒪOOKIᑎG ᖴOᖇᗯᗩᖇᗪ

I’m going to keep being honest in what I write. I want to try new forms, take on harder subjects, and keep working on my voice until it sounds even more like me.

Whether you came for a short story, a quiet poem or an essay, thanks for reading, and for walking a little way down this path with me.