My full name is Allison Brooke Connelly, though I like to sign my work as A.C. Brooke for the partial anonymity it offers. While I dabble in many different mediums these days, my first love has always been writing. Written words often give us the courage–not to mention the time–to express ourselves more boldly. In recent years, I’ve grown an affinity for literary journalism, but I still enjoy working on more creative pieces in my spare time. Right now, I’m in the final round of editing for my first novel, Seventeen Times Around the Sun: a book aiming to paint an accurate portrait of adolescences, especially as it relates to teens dealing with dysthymia.

On a more personal note, I was born in Peoria, Arizona but grew up in a quiet neighborhood in southeastern PA. As the youngest of three, I spent much of my childhood either outside in the woods or deep in my mind. Now that I’m older, I find myself much more grounded in reality, and in a life marked by brevity, I feel responsible to help positively shape it. In my own personal experience, that’s harboring meaningful relationships, giving the space for others to tell their stories, and creating an environment better for everyone in it. I’m extremely lucky that the things I’m most passionate about have allowed me easy access to do that.