Courtney’s first published work is very fittingly “Blood, Ink, and Soul” in Quail Bell Magazine, a lovely essay on why she writes. I love it and I’m so proud of her. Courtney and I have been friends since we were five and six respectively, and she is one of the most creative people I know. One of the reasons I’m writing a novel is because she wrote her novel a few years before I started my MFA and encouraged me so much that I just had to believe her. Keep an eye out for her in the future– she’s in the editing phase right now and it’s a very cool dark fantasy tale set in Romania. She’s also a gorgeous and unique visual artist and just started an internship as a substance abuse counselor. This girl doesn’t mess around.