Alana M Madison

Behind the stories, I’m a mom, a full-time professional, a reader who owns entirely too many books, a brand-new audiobook narrator, and a woman still figuring out what it looks like to choose herself without apologizing for it. I love structure. I love a plan. I would very much like life to respect the color-coded itinerary I have prepared for it. Life, unfortunately, has declined. 😂 Becoming a mom—especially to a little girl who is watching me become who I am—has challenged me to make room for a little more chaos, take chances I probably would have talked myself out of before, and stop shrinking the pieces of myself that don’t fit neatly into the boxes I once thought they should. BookTok became an unexpected part of that journey. I came for the books and somehow found a community. I became a reviewer, an indie-author advocate and hype woman, found my way back to writing, and eventually stepped behind a microphone as a narrator. What started as a place to talk about stories became one of the places that reminded me I still had stories of my own to tell. And I think that’s what exists behind everything I create now: connection. I believe there is room to celebrate someone else’s success without diminishing your own. I believe complicated people deserve stories, messy emotions are usually the interesting ones, and sometimes the bravest thing you can do is try something before you’re completely convinced you’re ready. I’m still learning. I’m still writing. I’m still becoming. And apparently, I’m doing it with a little more chaos than originally scheduled. ❤️