Jae

Sapphic Slow-burn romances

Aphantasia

Being a writer when you have aphantasia

If you have read my newest novel, Just a Touch Away, you know that Hannah, the professional cuddler, has aphantasia, and so have I.

Like most people, you’ve probably never heard of aphantasia before reading Just a Touch Away. Aphantasia is the inability to voluntarily form mental images.

Up until a few years ago, I had never heard of it either, even though I’ve had it all my life! We all tend to assume that other people think and experience the world the same way we do. I assumed the same, so it came as a surprise when I discovered that other people can visualize things in their mind’s eye—they really do “see” sheep jumping over a fence when they are counting sheep, and apparently, picturing people naked to help with public speaking isn’t just a joke! Who knew?

As I found out, human minds are actually very diverse.

Read more about what aphantasia is and how it affects being a writer in this blog post. I also interviewed 6 fellow authors of sapphic books who have aphantasia too.