Bayou Bound Books’ First Christmas Collection Is Here

If you’re the kind of person who wants to be wrapped up in something warm with a hot drink in your hands the second it gets a little chilly, this one’s for you.

The very first Porch Stories Christmas collection is officially here, and I’m so happy to finally share it. I wanted pieces you’d actually reach for on those slow, cozy holiday mornings, whether you’re curled up with a book, sitting on the porch, or opening gifts with the people you love. And because this is Bayou Bound Books, Santa had to come down the bayou on an airboat.

Vintage Christmas is making a comeback, so I leaned all the way into that old-school holiday feel.

Here’s what’s in the collection:

Santa’s Bayou Airboat Crewneck in Sand and Dark Mocha. Soft, neutral colors that go with everything and feel like the holidays without being loud about it.

Santa’s Bayou Airboat Tee in Brown Savana. For those Southern Christmases where it’s somehow still warm enough for short sleeves.

Vintage Bow Stamp Christmas Mug. For all my coffee and tea lovers out there. Fill it up, grab your book, and stay a while.

And keep an eye on the shop, because a few more pieces might sneak into the collection before the season’s over. 🎄

These also make really easy gifts for the reader in your life, or for yourself, because you deserve something cozy too.

The Christmas collection will be available until January 1, so if you’re a last-minute shopper or want to treat yourself after the holidays, you’ve still got time. After that, it’s gone.

Shop the Christmas collection on the Bayou Bound Books website before it disappears.

Isabelle Herrscher
Ink dipped in soul, bound by the bayou.

What the Tooth Fairy Left Behind in Belle Morte

Belle Morte Remembers What You Forgot

So Belle Morte means "beautiful death" in Cajun French, which honestly tells you everything you need to know about this town lol. It's one of those tiny coastal Louisiana towns with one road in and one road out, and if you've ever been to one you already know the vibe. The marsh is gorgeous, but it'll also swallow you whole and nobody's going to ask a lot of questions about it.

Last month I introduced y'all to Belle Morte, and this month I want to get into what's actually wrong with it.

Peyton Thibodeaux grew up there and she left, and when she finally comes back she swears up and down it's only for a few days. She is not staying. Spoiler alert, if you're from a small Southern town you already know how that goes.

Down there everybody knows everybody, everybody's got a saint on the dashboard and a grandmother who knows which plants fix what, and there's a whole list of things you just don't talk about. Church and folklore kind of blend together and nobody thinks twice about it.

The scariest part of this book for me isn't anything jumping out of the dark, it's memory. Going home and realizing the version of your childhood you've been carrying around your whole life might not be the real one. That one gets under my skin.

The Tooth Fairy Drowns Here is in progress right now and I'm going to keep sharing pieces of Belle Morte as I write it, so make sure you're following @BayouBoundBooks everywhere so you don't miss anything. And if you're in your spooky era this month, the new Porch Stories Halloween collection is up now at bayouboundbooks.com.

See y'all on the porch.

The Porch Stories Halloween Collection Is Here

Y'all, spooky season is officially here and I finally made the thing.

The Porch Stories Halloween Collection is live in the shop, and it's limited edition, so once October 31st hits, it's gone.

If you've been around for a while, you know Porch Stories. It's been a minute since I've posted one (I know, I know), but the porch hasn't gone anywhere, and this collection is my little love letter to it. Same porch. Different kind of night.

Here's what's in it:

The Halloween Tee has our vintage pumpkin badge on the front and the full moonlit porch scene on the back, Spanish moss, cypress trees, rocking chair and all.

The Halloween Hoodie has the same front and back designs, just cozier, for the nights that finally cool down enough to sit outside.

The Halloween Mug is 15 oz with the pumpkin badge on both sides, for your morning coffee or late night tea while you read something you probably shouldn't before bed.

And honestly, even though it's a Halloween collection, none of this is just an October thing. It's Southern Gothic. Spanish moss and cypress trees don't stop being creepy on November 1st, so you can wear it and use it all year.

A couple quick questions I know y'all will have:

Is the Porch Stories Halloween Collection available all year?
No, it's a limited collection. The tee, hoodie, and mug are only available through October 31.

Will my order arrive by Halloween?
Each item is made just for you once you order, so it takes a little extra time. To be safe, order by mid-October if you want it in time for Halloween.

Grab yours before the porch light goes out.

See y'all on the porch.

Wear the Bayou: A Look at What's in the Shop Right Now

Wear the Bayou: A Look at What’s in the Shop Right Now

I don’t talk about the shop enough, honestly. So today I will try and do a little better.

If you’ve been around here for the books and the stories but haven’t made it over to the merch page yet, here’s what’s actually in the shop section of my website at the moment.

The Shirts

There’s a black tee with the full swamp scene on the back. Spanish moss, cypress trees, a skull stacked on books, moonlight, and the words “Where the stories rot beautifully” across it. Comes in a classic unisex fit and a crop top, so wear the bayou however feels most like you.

There’s also a grey tee, a little more understated. “Ink dipped in soul, bound by the bayou” sits on the front where a pocket would be, and a bayou house on the back.

The Mug

For anyone who does their best reading with something warm in their hand. It is available in three different sizes. Whether you are a hot coffee or tea lover it will be perfect for you or make a great gift!

The Art Prints

Original pieces, born out of the same voice and atmosphere as the books. You may notice that my artwork may not look how my brand sounds and the honest reason for this is just because I create what I feel inspired to create and for some reason my visual art expresses itself a little differently than my stories. It is what it is kind of situation but a reminder that Bayou Bound Books is so much bigger than just a book brand, it is an entire creative world.

Everything in my shop ships straight to you. None of it is separate from the brand, it’s all just another way to hold onto the same world the books live in.

You can find all of it at bayouboundbooks.com.

The Books

If you have not noticed yet, I am sure you will notice soon. My books are not on there. Let me tell you why and where you can find them.

You can find my books on Amazon. They are not on my shop because I have not yet found a place where I like how the printing turns out and to be honest the best way I can get more blogs, merch, books, etc. for you guys is to not have my house turn into a full out fulfillment center. My books are currently only on Amazon because it allows me to have more availability and right now that feels very important to me while I continue to build the Bayou Bound Books brand. Never say never though because I am slowly working on a plan to make it to where I can also have my books on my website that I have worked so hard on.

Who knows, maybe there will even be special editions and signed copies available for purchase when they finally get here! For now I will just have to link them down below. Something else to note is that my 3 books are published under my maiden name, Isabelle McGee, for more information on that feel free to binge some of my blogs where I further explain why.

Chasing 25: https://a.co/d/03tanyvh

Get Out Of The Swamp: https://a.co/d/04gP2Hxg

Prompt To Grow: https://a.co/d/0aVPvrla

More soon. 🖤

The Guessing Game Is Over. Belle Morte Is Waiting

Was anyone able to connect the dots on what the little art pieces were about??

I spent all week dropping little pieces of art out into the world, small, quiet, on purpose, just to see if anyone would connect the dots before I said anything. If you saw the tooth and your brain started spinning theories, you were closer than you think. If you scrolled right past it, no worries, that was honestly half the fun for me too.

So here's the deal. My next novel is coming, and it's Southern Gothic horror, no watered down version of it either. Louisiana dirt under the fingernails. Old churches nobody's prayed in for years. A small town that got real good at agreeing not to talk about something.

It's set in a town called Belle Morte. That means beautiful death, and once you spend a little time there, you'll get why nothing else would have worked.

I'm going to be honest, I've been sitting on this part the hardest. But not anymore.

The Tooth Fairy Drowns Here.

That's the title. Say it out loud a couple times, let it sit with you a second. I promise it means exactly what you think it might, and also nothing close to what you're picturing right now.

It's a story about memory and how much you can trust the version you're carrying around, especially the kind you built as a kid. It's about violence that doesn't stay where it started, that just keeps moving through a family whether anyone signed up for it or not. It's about the way faith gets tangled down here, more than one kind of belief sitting in the same room, nobody blinking twice. And it's about whether a person can actually become someone different from who they used to be, or if some things just wait you out.

That's all you're getting for now.

The writing's already started. I'm taking my time with this one, building it right, chapter by chapter.

More soon. Welcome to the beginning.

The Outline Is Done. Now I Bury the Clues.

A Hint Before the Announcement

I'm not ready to tell you everything yet. But I'm also not able to stay quiet about it anymore, so here's a little bit.

The outline is done. That part's finished, sitting there fully mapped out, and now I'm moving into the part where I actually start fleshing out the chapters one by one. It's the stage where a story stops being a plan and starts being real, and I'm so excited I can barely sit still with it.

Here's what I can tell you. There's a full announcement coming next Sunday, and it's going to be worth the wait.

Here's what I can't tell you yet, but I can show you.

I've started a small series of miniature art pieces connected to this next project, little visual hints scattered out into the world ahead of the reveal. The first one is already made. It's small, it's quiet, and if you know where to look, it might tell you more than you think.

I've never really done anything like this before, and I have to admit, sitting on a secret this big is a special kind of torture. But I wanted to give you something to hold onto while the story comes together behind the scenes, something to turn over in your mind the way a good bit of folklore gets passed around before anyone can prove it's true.

So here's my challenge to you. Watch for the art. See what you can piece together. I'll be dropping more hints between now and next Sunday, and I'd love to see if anyone figures out what's coming before I get to say it myself.

Some things are worth burying for a little while before you dig them back up.

This is one of them.

See you next Sunday.

Mental Health First, Horror Always: The Bayou Bound Books Story

If You Like Dark, Slow Burn Stories, Start Here

I want to clear something up, because I think a few of you might have the wrong idea about what's happening right now.

Bayou Bound Books isn't changing. It never was anything other than this. Southern Gothic horror is what this brand was founded on, from day one. What's happening now isn't a pivot, it's just me finally getting to the part I built this whole thing for.

Mental Health Had to Come First

Here's the truth. I put my mental health work out first, Prompt To Grow, Get Out of the Swamp, and most recently Chasing 25, because that felt like the most important thing I could give people before anything else. It had to exist, and it had to exist loudly, before I let myself move into the fiction side of what I'm actually here to do. That work isn't a detour from the brand. It's not separate from it either. It's still the same heartbeat, just wearing a different shape now.

Southern Gothic Horror Is What's Coming Next, and It Always Was

I want to say this plainly, because I know how easy it is for people to assume a brand is figuring itself out as it goes. Bayou Bound Books was not built on the fly. Southern Gothic horror was the plan from the very beginning, the whole reason this LLC exists. I simply chose to lead with mental health first, because that felt like the priority at the time, not because the horror side was ever an afterthought or something I stumbled into later. This has been the business plan the entire time. Now it's just the part you get to see.

If you're wondering what that's actually going to look like coming from me, you don't have to wait to find out. Go read the Bayou Archive. Every one of those short stories is already living exactly where I'm about to take the rest of this brand, bayou folklore, family secrets, the kind of slow burn dread that creeps in through the humidity instead of jumping out at you. It's the clearest taste you're going to get before the next novel lands.

A Poetry Collection Is Coming Too, I Just Don't Know When

I want to be honest with you about this one instead of promising a date I can't keep. I have a catalog of at least 60 poems right now, Southern Gothic, personal, close to my actual life. Not all of them will make it into the final collection. But I'm not releasing this one on a schedule. I'm releasing it when it tells me it's ready, and I genuinely don't know when that will be. I'd rather wait and hand you something true than rush it just to hit a date.

Where to Start

If you're new here, or you've been here since the journals and you're wondering whether this is still your kind of author, start with whatever pulls at you first. The Bayou Archive short stories. The poetry collection whenever it decides to arrive. The novel coming this fall.

Different formats, same brand, same person, still trying to help people feel a little less alone in what they're carrying.

Welcome to the part I've been building toward. I promise it's worth staying for.

Mrs. Herrscher: A New Name, A New Chapter

By the time you're reading this, I'm officially Mrs. Herrscher.

I got married on August 5th, and from this point forward, that's the name I'll be signing. Yes, my maiden name was McGee, and no, I'm not going back and republishing anything I already have out under Isabelle McGee. Everything moving forward is simply going out under my new name. That's it. That's the whole transition.

I'm so excited. And for the ones of you who know, you know the last six years of my life have been quiet something. Not always easy, not always loud about it, just quiet in the way you carry things you don't talk about yet. So here's to a new last name, to healing, and to happily ever after.

I can't wait to share more with you when I get back from our honeymoon. Until then, thank you for being here, for reading, for sticking around through every version of my name and every version of me.

More soon.

Isabelle Herrscher

The Bayou Archive Issue No. 3: The Debt We Buried

There's a new story waiting for you in the swamp this month, and I want to make sure you know exactly how to get it.

What The Bayou Archive Actually Is

The Bayou Archive is a monthly short story rooted in Southern Gothic horror and bayou folklore. Not a subscription. Not a series you have to catch from the beginning or lose your place. Every issue stands completely on its own, so you can buy one, buy all three, or start wherever calls to you first. No monthly charge sneaking out of your account, no commitment. Just stories, released one at a time, whenever you're ready for them.

That matters to me because I know how subscription fatigue feels. I wanted to build something readers actually want to come back to, not something they forget to cancel.

What's Waiting For You in Issue 3

This one is about a blood feud so old that nobody left alive remembers how it started. Two families, generations of bad history, and one dance meant to finally put it to rest.

Except reviving an old tradition means waking up everything that got buried along with it.

I'm not giving away the ending here. What I will tell you is that Issue 3 sits right in that Southern Gothic sweet spot: old folklore, family secrets, and the kind of dread that creeps in slow before it grabs you by the throat.

The Recipe Pairing: Hush Puppies

Every Bayou Archive issue comes with a recipe pairing, something to make while you read or after you finish, food that ties back into the story itself. Issue 3's pairing is hush puppies, and if you know the story, you'll know exactly why once you get there. Some secrets are worth keeping quiet. Some secrets have a way of getting out anyway.

Haven't Started the Archive Yet? Start Anywhere.

If you're new here, Issues 1 and 2 are already out and waiting for you, and you don't need to read them in order to enjoy Issue 3. Grab the one that pulls you in first. That's the whole point.

Issue 1: Mae's Peach Cobbler
Issue 2: Keep the Dead Quiet

If you love slow burn horror, bayou atmosphere, and stories that feel like they were passed down around a kitchen table before they were ever written down, the Bayou Archive was made for you.

Pick your issue. Pick your pace. The swamp isn't going anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Bayou Archive a subscription? No. Each issue is a one-time purchase. There's no recurring charge and no obligation to buy future issues.

Do I need to read the issues in order? No. Every issue is a standalone story, so you can start with whichever one interests you most.

What genre is the Bayou Archive? Southern Gothic horror set in and around Louisiana bayou culture, with folklore, family secrets, and slow-burn dread at the center of every issue.

Does each issue come with anything besides the story? Yes. Every issue includes a recipe pairing connected to the story itself.

What I Hope Chasing 25 Does For You

To whoever Chasing 25 finds,

I hope it finds you at the right time.

Not necessarily a good time. Maybe especially not a good time. Because this book was not written for the easy seasons. It was written for the ones that knock the wind out of you and leave you standing in the middle of your own life wondering how you are supposed to keep going from here.

I did not write Chasing 25 as a therapist. I am not one. I did not write it as a parent handing down wisdom from a safe distance. I wrote it as someone who went through the hardest things I could imagine going through at a young age and came out the other side still standing -- scared, alone, without a guide, without this book.

I wrote it so you could have what I did not.

Not just the comfort of knowing someone else has been through something similar. That helps but it is not always enough. I wanted to give you something more than that. I wanted to give you a friend. The kind of friend who has been through it, who is not going to sugarcoat it, who is not going to hand you a list of steps and tell you to feel better by Thursday. The kind who sits with you in it and tells you the truth because they love you enough to do that.

That is what I hope this book feels like when you read it.

Here is something that still gets me. Even now, flipping through the finished pages, my own words say something back to me. Something I wrote from a place of survival a couple of years ago still has something to offer me today in a completely different situation carrying a completely different weight. That tells me this book has a life beyond the moment it was written from.

I hope it has a life inside yours too.

Whatever you are carrying right now -- grief, confusion, loss, the specific exhaustion of going through something hard without anyone who truly understands -- I wrote this for you. I did it alone and scared and without anything like this to hold onto. You do not have to. 🖤

Chasing 25 is available now. I hope it finds you exactly when you need it. https://a.co/d/092AN8Qk

Who Is Chasing 25 For? The Honest Answer.

Most authors answer the question "who is this book for" with something like "anyone who loves this genre" or "readers who enjoy personal growth content." And I get it. It is a simple answer to a loaded question.

But Chasing 25 is not a simple book and it does not deserve a simple answer.

So here is the honest one.

Chasing 25 is for anyone who has ever felt completely lost in their own life. Not the kind of lost where you just need directions. The kind of lost where grief has hollowed you out, or a friendship has broken you in a way you did not see coming, or life handed you something so heavy at such a young age that you had no idea how to carry it and nobody handed you a guide.

This is not a memoir. I want to be clear about that. It is not loaded with the personal details of my life. It is something closer to a survival guide; built from my experiences but written for yours.

Some chapters wrote me. Others I fought through. Every word in Chasing 25 came from survival. And healing.

Here is the thing that surprised me most about writing it. When I went back through my own manuscript during editing, my own words spoke to me. Something my hand and brain and heart wrote a couple of years ago still had something to say to me right now. Same chapter, different situation, same heavy life theme showing up in a new form. That told me something. It told me this book has a longer shelf life than the moment it was written from.

No matter if you are 16 or 106 I genuinely believe there is something in here for you.

The End of an Era

There is something else I want to share about this book and what it means to me beyond the pages.

Chasing 25 will be my last published work under the name Isabelle McGee.

It publishes July 20th, 2026. On August 5th, 2026 I am getting married. And after that I will be signing my work as Isabelle Herrscher.

I wanted to publish this book before I got married intentionally. It felt important to close it out as Isabelle McGee. Because in a lot of ways Chasing 25 is the end of an era; a closing of the book on the hardest chapters of my life before I step into the next one.

If you know my story you know my life has carried some very heavy themes, especially at a young age. Those experiences were brutal and complicated and at times completely overwhelming. But they made me who I am. And they gave me something to write that I hope makes at least one person feel less alone in whatever they are carrying right now.

I cannot explain how excited I am to marry this man and take on the name Herrscher. It feels like a reset. A new chapter in every sense of the word.

But first -- Chasing 25. July 20th. The last thing I publish as Isabelle McGee and one of the most honest things I have ever written.

It was always meant to end here. 🖤

Surprise: Chasing 25 Is Already Here

Okay, I have to tell you something, and I've been sitting on it for a few hours because I honestly could not stop smiling long enough to type it out.

Chasing 25 was supposed to launch on July 20th. That was the plan. That was the date on the calendar, the date I told you, the date the Facebook event still says.

It went live seven days early instead.

I did not see that coming, and I could not hold onto the secret for even one more day. So here we are. Surprise! The book is out. It's real. It's sitting on Amazon right now, in paperback and Kindle, ready for anyone who wants it.

https://a.co/d/0fe2TaQy

Some lessons you only learn by surviving them.

I did not write this book because I had it all figured out. I wrote it because I did not, and I spent a long time feeling completely alone in that. The hard seasons, the grief, the self-doubt, the moments where you are doing everything right and life still falls apart anyway.

Chasing 25 is 25 things I had to learn the hard way. About self-priority, about letting go, about showing up for yourself when nobody else is going to. About choosing your life on purpose instead of just surviving it.

This is not a book about being young. It is a book about being human. About the part of the journey nobody talks about honestly enough.

If you have ever felt like you were white-knuckling your way through life and wondering when it gets better, this is for you.

It gets better. But first you have to choose it

If you've been following along through Round 2 edits, spine width chaos, cover reveals, and me talking way too much about hourglasses, thank you. Genuinely. You watched this thing get built from the inside out, and now it's yours to actually hold.

So here's what I'm asking: go get your copy. Read it whenever it finds you at the right moment, there's no rush. And when you're done, if it gave you even a little bit of what I hoped it would, leave a review. It means more than you know for a first-time author trying to get this book in front of people who need it.

I'll still be celebrating properly on July 20th, like planned. But for now? The wait is over.

Go get your copy. And thank you for being here for this.

With love and a whole lot of bayou in my bones,
Isabelle

Get your copy here: https://a.co/d/0fe2TaQy

My Writing Process Does Not Exist and That Is Okay

A lot of authors out there have a writing process. Artists have a painting process. Creatives of all kinds seem to have these carefully structured routines with blocked off hours and dedicated creative windows and systems that keep everything moving forward on schedule.

If you came here looking for that from me I am sorry but I genuinely cannot help you there.

My full time author schedule is relatively nonexistent and I have made peace with that.

Here is what my day actually looks like. I wake up -- whenever that is, and it could genuinely be any time -- make my coffee, sit down at my desk, check my emails, and respond to what needs a response. After that everything is chaos. Beautiful, productive, completely unscheduled chaos.

I do not wake up at a certain time. I do not go to bed at a certain time. Some nights I am asleep by 10pm and up early ready to tackle the world. Other nights, because I spent years working night shifts and have always been a night owl at heart, I am going to bed at 6am and waking up at 3pm. And honestly it is what it is.

I have tried blocking out my schedule almost hour by hour. Breaks at specific times, creative work in specific windows, the whole system. It does not work for me and I think I finally understand why.

I cannot sit down and feel forced to be creative. I will be creative when I want to be creative. That is just the truth of how I work and I stopped fighting it.

Editing is the exception. Editing I force myself to do because if I do not create a deadline for myself I simply will not do it. There is no natural creative pull toward editing for me. It is all discipline and mild dread and self imposed consequences. But everything else -- the writing, the content creation, the building -- that happens when it happens.

My day looks like working for an hour or two and then going to hang out with my fiance. Then getting back to it when he is busy with his hobbies. Then working again late into the night because something clicked and I cannot stop. I probably work more than eight hours most days but the majority of the time it does not feel like work because I am doing something I actually love.

That is the thing nobody tells you about pursuing your dream full time. When the passion is real it does not feel like a job even when it is technically labor. Even when it is unpaid labor for stretches that would make a reasonable person quit. You just keep going because stopping does not feel like an option.

So no. I do not have a process.

I have a dream. I have a passion. I have coffee and a desk and a fiance who puts up with me disappearing into my work at completely unpredictable hours. And somehow, in the middle of all that beautiful chaos, things get made.

That is enough for me. 🖤

Bayou Bound Books Isn't Just a Book Brand. It's a Creative World.

Quick answer: Bayou Bound Books is the creative brand of Southern Gothic horror author Isabelle McGee (soon to be Isabelle Herrscher). It started with books, including Prompt To Grow, Get Out of the Swamp, and the upcoming Chasing 25, and has grown to include a monthly short story series (the Bayou Archive), branded merch, and original art prints. The books are still the core of everything. Everything else is an extension of the same creative world, not a separate business.

Why Bayou Bound Books Is More Than Just Books

I've spent the last several months building Bayou Bound Books as a full-time author brand, Southern Gothic horror, bayou atmosphere, Louisiana roots. That's not changing. Writing is still the center of everything I do, and it always will be.

But being a full-time author doesn't mean I'm only ever making one thing. I'm also a full-time creative, and that means the same world I write in shows up in more than just pages sometimes.

That's why Bayou Bound Books now includes:

• Books: Southern Gothic horror and personal narrative, including Prompt To Grow, Get Out of the Swamp, and Chasing 25 (releasing July 2026)

• The Bayou Archive: a monthly short story for readers who want a piece of this world every month

• Merch: wearable pieces of the Bayou Bound Books world, fulfilled through Printful

• Art prints: original creative pieces, now available as printed art, born from the same voice and atmosphere as the books

Are the Art Prints a New Direction for Bayou Bound Books?

No. The art prints aren't a pivot away from being an author. They're proof that the "author" part was never the whole picture. Bayou Bound Books has always been about building a full creative world rooted in Southern Gothic and bayou storytelling. The books are the foundation. The art is another room in the same house. You can shop them here: https://www.bayouboundbooks.com/shop/art

What's Next for Bayou Bound Books

The focus stays on the books first. Chasing 25 is releasing July 2026, with more Southern Gothic horror titles in progress after that. Everything else, the Archive, the merch, the art, exists to bring readers deeper into the same world, not to replace what got them here in the first place.

Editing Chasing 25: The Part Nobody Talks About

Starting the editing process feels a lot like being back in school and realizing the homework never actually ends.

I chose this. I love this. Writing and creating and building stories is the thing I would pick every single time if you gave me the choice again. But editing? Editing is the part I would skip if I could. It is the necessary evil of the whole process and I say that with full awareness that it is also one of the most important parts.

I picked the editing back up last week for Chasing 25 and I would be lying if I said I was not walking into it with a knot in my stomach.

Here is the thing about editing that nobody really prepares you for. No matter how many times you go through your own manuscript you are going to miss things. I know this because I lived it with Prompt To Grow. I went back after it was already published and found embarrassing mistakes on almost every page of the first edition. Some I went back and fixed. Some I did not. And as much as that stings, I have made peace with it.

You know when I notice the errors I missed? Once the book is already published and already in someone's hands. Every single time. Without fail.

That is not a failure. That is just being human. And honestly it is also proof that the work is real, that it came from a real person doing their best with what they had at the time. You can watch my work evolve if you go back far enough. The mistakes are part of that evolution. They show where I was when I made them.

But it does not make the editing process any less anxiety inducing.

There is something specific about editing Chasing 25 that makes it harder than editing a journal. This book is personal in a way that my previous work was not. Every chapter I go back through I am not just looking for errors. I am sitting inside moments from my own life and deciding how much of the truth to leave on the page. That is a different kind of work. It requires a different kind of nerve.

I am genuinely excited to get this book into the world. July 20th feels real and close and terrifying in the best possible way. But between now and then there is a manuscript that needs me to sit with it, page by page, and do the uncomfortable work of making it the best version of itself I am capable of producing on my own.

No professional editor. No team. Just me, the manuscript, and a lot of coffee.

That is indie publishing in its most honest form.

And I would not trade it for anything -- even on the days it feels like homework. 🖤

Book Launch date July 20, 2026

The Bayou Archive Issue No. 2: "Keep the Dead Quiet"

What is "Keep the Dead Quiet" about?

The story follows Cora and a group of friends gathered for their yearly bonfire, the first one since losing someone they all loved. What starts as a familiar night around the fire slowly turns into something else entirely, something none of them want to say out loud. If you like slow-burn dread over jump scares, this one's for you.

What comes with each issue?

Every issue of The Bayou Archive includes an original recipe straight from the bayou. This issue's recipe is a Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, no shortcuts, no rushing the fond, just real Cajun cooking done right.

Is The Bayou Archive a subscription?

No. The Bayou Archive is not a subscription. There's no recurring charge and nothing to cancel. Each issue is a one-time, standalone purchase for $5.

Do I need to start with Issue No. 1?

No. Every issue of The Bayou Archive is a standalone story. You can start with Issue No. 1, Issue No. 2, or whichever one catches your eye. You won't be lost jumping in partway through.

Where can I get it?

https://www.bayouboundbooks.com/shop/p/bayou-archive-issue-2-keep-the-dead-quiet

If Southern Gothic horror with a little heart underneath it sounds like your thing, come check it out.

The Story Behind Chasing 25: My Upcoming Book

I want to tell you about Chasing 25 because I think understanding why I wrote it matters just as much as what is actually in it.

By the time I was 22 years old I had already lost both of my parents, moved to a completely new state alone, struggled with deep depression and anxiety, experienced abuse, navigated crippling loneliness, and carried PTSD through a life that was not slowing down long enough for me to process any of it. I was working, surviving, and trying to figure out who I was supposed to be with none of the people who were supposed to help me get there still around.

Nobody handed me a guidebook for that. I wish they had.

That is exactly what Chasing 25 is.

What the Book Actually Is

Chasing 25 is not a memoir. It is not a story in the traditional sense. It is closer to a guidebook written from the other side of some of the hardest experiences a person can go through by a young age. Each chapter stands mostly on its own and covers a specific lesson, not surface level advice like just keep going or believe in yourself, but the real ones. How to sit with grief when it will not leave you alone. How to rebuild your identity when everything that shaped it is gone. How to survive things that cause complex trauma and come out the other side still recognizably yourself.

I share some of my own story throughout. Not in exhaustive detail but enough that you know these words came from somewhere real. The introduction gives you some context and certain chapters weave in pieces of my experience where it felt necessary to prove that I am not just theorizing. I lived this.

How to Read It

The chapters are designed to be read in order for the fullest experience because there is a progression to the way the book is structured. However if you feel called to a specific chapter you can jump to it. Just know it might send you bouncing around a little to fully understand the context. Think of it less like a novel and more like a friend who has been through some things sitting down with you and sharing everything they wish someone had told them.

Why I Wrote It

Honestly I wrote it because at 22 that book would have been my best friend. Some of the advice in it I probably would have rolled my eyes at in the moment, the way you do when you are young and hurting and not ready to hear certain truths yet. But I would have come back to it. And eventually I would have recognized how meaningful it actually was.

I wrote it so that nobody, no matter how young or how old, has to go through the hardest parts of being human feeling completely alone. Because that feeling, that specific loneliness of going through something enormous with no map and no guide, is one of the worst parts of any of it.

Chasing 25 is the map I never had. 🖤

Coming July 20, 2026 under Isabelle McGee for Bayou Bound Books. Stay tuned for more details.

Follow along at bayouboundbooks.com and across all platforms at @bayouboundbooks

How Bayou Bound Books is Building an Indie Publishing Brand from Houston, Texas

Building an indie publishing brand from scratch is not a straight line. It is a lot of figuring out what works, doubling down on it, and being willing to pivot when something does not.

Here is what that has actually looked like for Bayou Bound Books.

Where It Started

When I first launched Bayou Bound Books in May 2025 I was still working full time as a bartender. So a lot of my early support and marketing came from that world naturally. The people I worked with, the regulars I served, the community that formed around that job. It was word of mouth in the most organic way possible and honestly it gave me a foundation to build from even if it was small.

But I always knew that was just the beginning.

Where It Is Now

In May 2026 I left bartending behind completely to run Bayou Bound Books full time. And the moment I did that everything shifted. Without a job to split my attention I was able to really dial into what building this brand actually requires.

Right now the majority of my marketing lives on social media. I make videos, share behind the scenes content of what running an indie publishing LLC actually looks like day to day, and create educational content for other writers and authors who are on a similar journey. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Lemon8, and YouTube have become the primary way Bayou Bound Books connects with readers and grows its community.

But I am also starting to expand into in person marketing in a way that feels true to the brand.

Getting Into the Community

I wear my own merch. That sounds simple but it matters. The Bayou Bound Books shirt I designed is something I genuinely love wearing and every time I do it is a conversation waiting to happen.

I have also started dropping QR codes around Houston. Little cards that link directly to my website left with my check at restaurants and bars, slipped into unexpected places around the city. It is guerrilla marketing on a budget and it fits the mysterious bayou energy of the brand perfectly.

Word of mouth is still one of my most powerful tools. Telling people what I am building, letting them ask questions, watching their faces when they hear the name Bayou Bound Books for the first time. That never gets old.

Where It Is Going

The goal is to eventually have a presence at local markets and indie events with a proper pop up booth where people can buy books and merch in person and meet the person behind the brand. That is still a work in progress. I want to grow my product range and number of publications before I get there so that when I do show up I am showing up with something substantial.

Houston is a big city with a real creative community and Bayou Bound Books belongs in it. We are just getting started. 🖤

Follow along at bayouboundbooks.com and across all platforms at @bayouboundbooks.

What is Southern Gothic Fiction and Why Readers Cannot Get Enough of It

If you have spent any time in the bookish corners of the internet lately you have probably noticed that southern gothic fiction is having a moment. And honestly I do not think that moment is going anywhere anytime soon.

But before we talk about why readers cannot get enough of it let me give you the quick version of what it actually is for anyone who is newer to the genre.

Southern gothic fiction is a style of writing rooted in the American South that uses dark themes, decaying settings, grotesque characters, and deeply flawed people to explore the complicated and often painful history and culture of the region. Think crumbling plantation houses, Spanish moss, secrets buried so deep in the family that nobody talks about them out loud anymore, and a landscape that feels like it is watching you. It is beautiful and unsettling at the same time and that tension is kind of the whole point.

So Why Can Nobody Get Enough of It?

I think it comes down to layers.

Southern gothic fiction is one of the most multi layered genres that exists. On the surface it might look like a spooky story set in a swamp somewhere. But underneath that is usually a story about grief, or generational trauma, or the weight of history, or the way families damage each other across decades without ever meaning to. You can read it purely for the atmosphere and have a great time. Or you can go deeper and find something that makes you think about the human condition in a way that stays with you.

That kind of writing works for a lot of different readers at the same time and that is rare.

The South is Genuinely Fascinating to People

I also think there is something about southern culture specifically that draws people in, especially people who did not grow up there. The south is deeply cultured, deeply specific, and honestly pretty niche in a way that feels almost foreign to people who have never experienced it. The food, the music, the folklore, the way people talk and move and relate to each other and to the land. There is a richness to it that translates beautifully into fiction.

When you grew up in the south, the way I did, spending over twenty years of your life breathing that specific air and absorbing that specific culture, you carry it with you everywhere. And when you write from that place it shows in a way that cannot be faked.

Readers feel that authenticity. They feel the difference between someone who researched the south and someone who lived it. And that difference is what keeps them coming back.

It Gives Darkness a Purpose

I think one more reason southern gothic resonates so deeply right now is that it treats darkness with respect. It does not use pain as shock value. It uses it as a way to illuminate something true about the human experience. In a world where everything feels increasingly surface level and performative, there is something deeply satisfying about a genre that is willing to go to the uncomfortable places and stay there long enough to find meaning.

Southern gothic does not flinch. And right now a lot of readers are tired of fiction that does. 🖤

Follow along at bayouboundbooks.com and across all platforms at @bayouboundbooks.

Bayou Bound Books Was Featured in Voyage Houston

I have to be honest with you. I did not expect this to happen this soon.

About a month and a half ago, I made the decision to go full time with Bayou Bound Books. No backup plan, no safety net. Just a commitment to showing up every single day and building something real. And slowly, things are starting to happen.

One of those things is this: Voyage Houston published a feature on me and Bayou Bound Books.

Voyage Houston is a local publication dedicated to highlighting the stories of creatives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners across the city. Being included in that conversation means a lot to me. Not because it makes me feel important, but because it is proof that the work is being seen.

I want to be clear about something. This is a smaller win. I know that. But a win is a win, and I am not in the business of waiting for something to feel big enough before I let myself be grateful for it. Every step forward is a step forward.

If you want to read the full feature, you can find it here: Meet Isabelle McGee of Houston

Bayou Bound Books is still early. There is a lot more coming. But for now, I am celebrating this one.