c.z. rose

hi! thank you for stopping by! :) i'm currently writing on royal road. my book "the sixteenth tactician" is free to read by clicking the first link in the menu below!

my writing journey has been a very quiet one. i went to school and got two degrees in english literature, focused a lot on shakespeare and modern drama (with a dash of sf, poetry, and philosophy), and came out of it with massive, massive burnout.

now, years later, i have a full-time job in publishing (not fiction) and do translating (as i did half my first degree in french studies), copyediting, and proofreading. i am still burnt out, but i also still love to write. ^{(i also have a diploma in classical music performance but anyway)}

in the beginning of spring 2025, after coming to the realization that i will never become a "writer" in the sense that i always wanted to be if i didn't do anything, i decided to put my writing on royal road. i decided that even if one person reads my work, it would have been worth it. and if not a single person liked it, i would still be okay with it, because i've spent my entire life believing that nothing i do will ever amount to anything.

if i could leave the world with one message, it would be that i believe this world is full of hope and love. silence is our reminder that the beat of our hearts is the most beautiful song there is, our words—however jumbled they may be—are poetry, and our existences are a testament to the resilience of hope and love in a cruel world where war, pain, and suffering never ceases. and it is up to us to show the world that hope and love exists, even if it may be something as small as a smile, a kind word, or the beat of our hearts.