How “The Alchemy of Ivy Mae” Began

🌱 How “The Alchemy of Ivy Mae” Began

Sometimes creative projects begin with a plan.
And sometimes they begin because you simply need somewhere for your mind to go.

Last winter was a difficult one for me. ❄️ December and January were cold, work was hard to find, and there was a lot of stress around housing and everyday survival. The house I was staying in was crowded, people were dealing with their own struggles, and everywhere I went I seemed to see the same thing—people on the edge.

On the bus 🚌
On the streets
In conversations

Homelessness. Addiction. Loss. Families dealing with illness and dementia. A lot of people just trying to get through the day.

Originally, The Alchemy of Ivy Mae ✨📖 was meant to be a year-long interactive writing project, where readers could help shape the story.

But something unexpected happened.

Bundled up in a cold room 🧣, trying to stay warm, I started writing.

And I kept writing.

What began as a small idea turned into a whole world—a post-electric future where young people are rebuilding after the Great Solar Collapse ☀️⚡. The story follows Jas, a non-binary teen, discovering fragments of the old world and trying to understand how things went wrong.

In a way, writing it became a kind of mental health project 🧠💛. Instead of focusing on the chaos around me, I focused on imagining a future where communities learn from the past and try to do things differently.

I ended up writing most of the series in about three intense weeks.

Then I scheduled the posts slowly over time so the story could unfold piece by piece.

I thought readers might help guide it.

But I have to admit something.

I got a little carried away with the story. 😄

It kept growing.

And now it’s finished.

The final post has been shared, and the full story stands as a complete arc.

If you’re curious about this storytelling experiment, you can still read it here:

🌿 The Alchemy of Ivy Mae
https://thealchemyofivymae.blogspot.com

Sometimes creativity grows in the hardest seasons. 🌧️➡️🌱
And sometimes the stories we write to survive a winter become something bigger than we expected.

— Tina Winterlik (Zipolita) 📷✍️