Thank you for this, Ayah. These 10 words are why I write the balls-out (ovaries-out?) stuff that I do.

I’m a troll-magnet, for sure: I put voice to what many experience, but can’t express…and when the formerly oppressed get strong and start speaking, it threatens the status quo. Losers who’ve enjoyed a modicum of power recognize this. It terrifies them. So they try to cripple the voicebox. But as a friend/idol of mine — a guy who knows my youthful trajectory inside and out — once said, “I survived my childhood. The fuck can YOU do to me?”

The trolls are pathetic. They’re coming at me with sporks; I’m wielding a Jagdkommando. (Look it up. You kind of have to now, don’t you. Jagd. Komando. Damn.) The words of support from readers like you sharpen the edge up quite nicely, tho. XO.