Hey, I’m April. I write things. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they’re devastating, and usually they’re both.

I’m a writer, educator, and passionate oversharer who has spent the last few decades collecting weird, tragic, and unintentionally hilarious life experiences—most of which I didn’t exactly sign up for (but hey, at least they make great stories now.) I’ve been a public school teacher for nearly 20 years, which means I can walk thirty teenagers through a lesson on the economic, social, and political motivations behind American colonization—while simultaneously diffusing a Takis-fueled argument, fixing a broken Chromebook, and shouting a reminder about the “Not Seen, Not Heard, Not Taken” cell phone policy as I lock eyes with the kid in the back row, whose lap is glowing suspiciously blue.Look, man. I see you, but I’m giving you a chance to make a better choice.
That’s the real art of teaching.

For years, people have asked, “When are you going to write a book?” And after years of writing love letters to everyone else, I am finally writing one to myself—Love Letters from Loftinland. My hope is that it’s a mix of Brené Brown’s vulnerability and David Sedaris’s humor while blennding raw introspection with stories about childhood, identity, heartbreak, faith, and teaching.

I grew up in cult-adjacent Christianity, survived loss to murder, manslaughter, cancer, and had my own protein-bar-induced near-death experience, and somehow came out on the other side as a neurodivergent, gay, history teacher in Texas (which is its own level of survival story). If you’ve ever felt like a background character in your own life, I get it—I spent years trying to belong somewhere. My book is about finally figuring out that home isn’t a place. It’s being okay with who you are.

Other Things to Know About Me

• I talk a lot. That’s why I write—so my words have somewhere to go. I’m an external processor, which I learned from my therapist—she’s a goddess.

• I love lists. Expect them often.

• I LOVE music. It has given me a place of belonging my whole life (lately, the playlist has a lot of Megan Thee Stallion and Olive Klug)

• I overuse parentheses. (And I will not stop.)

If you like stories about trauma, resilience, and finding humor in all of it, I’ve got you covered.