Weaver of Tales. Founder of Light Bringer Press. Storyteller by nature and Sunlight by necessity.

Stories have always been my safe space. A soft place to land — to rest, to breathe, to survive. Growing up, I certainly did not always have the words for what I was living, and often suffering, through. But I always had stories. And somewhere along the way, I realized that building worlds for others to drift into — worlds where they might feel seen, or safe, or less alone — was the most honest thing I could do with everything I had been through.

That is why I write.

I write for the in-between spaces. The nuance. The tension between belonging and not belonging. Between what is expected and what is true. Between the light and everything that grows in the dark. I write about the space between light and shadow. About the nuance of truth and the necessity of balance. About what happens when the thing you fear most turns out to be the thing you needed all along.

I write about love and fate and choice, and about grief that does not resolve cleanly, and love that does not require the other person to still be present to remain real.

Every piece I write costs me something. That has never been more true than it is now.

GROCERY STORE FLOWERS: A Book of Grief — my second book, and my debut poetry collection — is forthcoming November 2026 under Light Bringer Press.

Once upon a time, the moon loved the sun. He took in all of her light, and he was brightened by it. He shone all throughout the darkness. But the Sun had so much light, and the moon — the moon could not handle it all. So he went away. Taking the sun's light with him.

This is a book about the Sun, and how she stopped shining. About the stars that watched her dull. About the darkness that held her — until she could shine again.

105 poems, moved through four sections: The Beginning, where it was tender and easy and real. The Knowing, where the reckoning started. If Not In This Lifetime, where I learned the difference between letting go and giving up. And Still — where I am now. Not resolved. Still standing.

This book is heavy. It has no choice but to be. The most honest things are always the most burdensome. I wish I never had to write these words. But I have had to.

I do not want you to cling to them. Read them. Feel them. Put them away. This book is not meant to prolong your suffering — it is meant to help you feel it, and then set it down, the way I am still learning to.

Some stories choose you before you choose them. Some loves are the same way. Not every chapter ends the way we write it. Not every connection can be explained by the one lifetime it lived in.

I believe in the kind of love that is bigger than circumstance. Bigger than timing. Bigger than the damage done in the space between two people who were always, in some inexplicable way, meant to find each other.

This book knows what I mean. If you have loved someone like that, you will too.

Goodnight Sunshine. No Nightmares.

DOORS — The Woven Thread Series Book One — is my debut novel, out now.

A magical library between worlds. A fire-cursed curator who has not left its walls in five years. An Egyptian death god in exile. A prince who fell out of the sky. A sorceress more loyal than most. And a love story that defies every lifetime.

It is a book about what it costs to survive something, about the friends who love you completely and still miss what you need, and about the fire that lives inside you that was never a curse. About the question I return to again and again — when is a monster not a monster? The answer this book offers: when you loved it.

Doors is available now. Check the books tab for where to grab your copy.

THE CHAOS JOURNAL — a writing journal for creators navigating mental health — is available now from Light Bringer Press. For the writers who create through the hard things. For the ones who need a page that can hold the chaos without asking it to resolve. Available now.

LETTERS FROM THE LIBRARY is my newsletter — behind the scenes of the writing life, world-building, honest reflections, and words worth reading. Subscribe on the main home page. Free always. ☽

The Woven Thread Series continues. The Consort Games is coming. The next worlds are already being built.

Mackenzie Cierra | Author | Poet | Founder | Sunshine

All Things Bend Towards The Light

Published by Light Bringer Press LLC