How I Became a Therapist in Another World
Not the Chosen One, just doing my best
After an unexpected accident, Cat wakes up in a new body in a world full of magic. If this is the afterlife, it’s a lot more cottagecore than she expected — even though it’s also haunted by demons that prey on people’s emotions.
Good thing this world summoned the right vintage-loving queer girl, because Cat — now Lavender — was a therapist on Earth. Wielding magic that gives others space to face their literal demons, she sets out to make a new life for herself.
A world of new friends, territorial Earthlings, rampaging dragons, high society balls, and rollicking nights at the tavern is just down the country road. But so is the reckoning of what she’s lost…
How I Became a Therapist in Another World is a light fantasy heartwarming isekai novella with emotional moments and a wlw human/orc romance side plot. Lavender’s story continues in parts 2-4.
(Published Nov. 2022)
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
Goodreads (for ratings/reviews)
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 2
Not enough hours in the day — oh, wait, I have magic for that
Lavender’s counseling service is growing, and so is the tavern at the Two Claws Inn, where she has been helping out her friends. Plus, the Countess is throwing a winter ball to die for, her relationship is just settling in, and then there’s the research on demons… Thanks to her pocket-dimension powers, Lavender can pack it all into a day — at least until the magic begins to demand some consequences.
The question of the demons’ origin looms, and answers are nowhere to be found in Lavender’s quiet farming town. She has just started to figure things out, and now the wider world is calling.
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 2 is a light fantasy heartwarming isekai novella with emotional moments and a wlw human/orc romance side plot. Lavender’s story continues in parts 3-4.
(Published April 2023)
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
Goodreads (for ratings/reviews)
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 3
We’ll get there together, and find new friends along the way
There are answers out there somewhere. With a new horse she can barely ride, a friend of a friend with bigger things on her mind, and one steadfast (and hot) orcish girlfriend by her side, Lavender sets out on the mountain road toward the nearest city.
But dangers await even on the well-traveled path, and Lavender will need all her skills, luck and magic to make it to her goal — and most of all, the help of friends new and old. As long as she can convince these new traveling companions that the otherworld isn’t a game…
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 3 is a light backpack fantasy heartwarming isekai novella with emotional moments and a wlw human/orc romance side plot. Lavender’s story concludes in part 4.
(Published June 2023)
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
Goodreads (for ratings/reviews)
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 4
My bestie, my frienemy, and the open road
All of Lavender’s searching has led her to one conclusion: The answers lie with the first Earthling to come to this world, a reclusive and legendary mage.
The road is long and the destination uncertain, but she has two companions to rely on: a former enemy turned grudging ally and a devoted friend. They’ll have to stick together through campfire confessions, piratical abductions and questionable theatrical performances to find the truth — about themselves, the demons, and the otherworld itself.
How I Became a Therapist in Another World 4 is a light backpack fantasy heartwarming isekai novella with emotional moments.
(Published July 2023)
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
Goodreads (for ratings/reviews)
How I Became a Therapist in Another World: The Complete Series
Contains books 1-4.
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
Amazon (print, first time for this series): US / UK / CA / AU
(Published September 2023)
The Sylvan Dragon’s Herald
(How I Became a Therapist in Another World book 5)
Friendship, forgiveness, and dragon hoards
Fate and a magical therapist have brought together two unlikely collaborators. Morel, sylvan dragon and guardian of the Southern Forest, has begun a quest to return all the treasure they stole on an uncharacteristic rampage through the countryside. Hazel, witch of the woods, hopes to confront her anxiety around people by acting as the dragon’s spokesperson, and in doing so fight off the demon that haunts her.
Some humans are more understanding than others when a stranger rides up with a dragon flying on her heels. Is this all worth it, when Hazel would rather be at home in the forest with her cat and her garden? And Morel isn’t sure whether to shoulder the blame for the theft in the first place.
It might take a taciturn neighbor, a baby dragon, and a friend in crisis to bring them both out of their shells. The pile of loot dwindles, and with it, the time remaining to figure things out.
A meditative, LGBT-inclusive novella. Takes place during and after books 2-4 of How I Became a Therapist in Another World.
(Published December 2023)
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
On Goodreads – rate and review
Starting Over in Another World with My Level 99 Self-Doubt
(How I Became a Therapist in Another World book 6)
New home, new life, old doubts
Berry spent uncounted years as an adventurer, hacking, slashing, and entangling-vinesing their way through dungeons and strongholds, amassing loot alongside their two party mates. Now the party has fallen apart, their old friends are off on a new venture, and Berry feels the call to not go anywhere at all for a while, thanks very much.
In the cozy farming town of Crystalbrook, Berry gets a new job as a bartender at the Two Claws Inn, alongside a high-strung pastry chef, a skeptical manager, and a moonlighting magical therapist. But Berry’s power in this world — the ability to grow any plant in any soil — is not only handy in battle, but a link to an old passion that has begun to reawaken. When nothing has been certain except the road ahead, it can be hard to believe that a good thing won’t go away.
A relaxed, queer-friendly novella about unexpected friendships, second and third chances, and giving yourself a chance to grow. Takes place after Book 3 of How I Became a Therapist in Another World, overlapping book 4.
Sales links:
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
The Salty Mageknight and the Sweet Dark Lord
(How I Became a Therapist in Another World book 7)
From swords at dawn to dinner at seven
Dark Lord Drekar Nightshade, Sorcerer Unyielding, exploded onto the scene with a challenge. One Visitor took up the call: Sir Solan the Mageknight, dark knight of the Western Plains. Their epic showdown fell apart into shooting the breeze about tabletop gaming and swordfighting techniques.
Despite amassing an army of devoted followers and building a dread tower from which to practice his dark arts, Drekar is still getting used to this whole otherworld thing. Meanwhile, Solan finds himself haunted by the memory of the Dark Lord. And not because neither of them could defeat the other. Because it was so easy to talk to him. And around him, Solan felt so relaxed and normal and…good?
The open invitation to revisit Drekar’s Bloodstone Tower brings Solan back, carrying a suit of armor, a toothbrush, and a lot of difficult questions for himself.
A m/m friends-to-lovers, reformed villain fantasy / romantic dark comedy isekai about mushy feelings, finding your way from renegade to hero, and how to lead a (not-so-) evil army while falling in love with your former rival. Contains strong language and a little bit of spice.
Amazon (ebook): US / UK / CA / AU
What the Hell is Isekai: If You’re Coming Here from My Other Works
I’m not at all equipped to deliver a comprehensive overview of light novels or the currently wildly popular isekai subgenre, honestly. A lot of other people read and watch more of it than I do, and enjoy it more than I do. (Am I once again writing a book to figure out why I don’t like a genre as much as I feel like I should, like I did with epic fantasy and Healers? Why yes, yes I am.)
The extra-short explanation, to vastly over-simplify it, is “anime genre about people who get reincarnated into fantasy worlds.” I’ve consumed some that I really liked. I’ve read about some that I find completely repellent. As a whole, I don’t entirely understand the appeal of many of the common tropes. So in part, this project was an attempt to get my head around it and see how it can be fun.
If you liked Healers, you might or might not like this one, and vice versa. It has a VERY different tone. The jokiness that pops up in Healers now and then is the starting point for Therapist, it doesn’t get remotely as far into the characters’ heads (ironically), the world-building and story are intentionally much more tropey, it’s in first-person, and the narration is very loose and conversational.
What it has in common with Healers is that it’s hopefully built on a foundation of compassion and humanity; friendship is an important theme, though not the center of the story this time; it’s got a love of coziness, even though that takes a back seat to magic, romance and action here; and it’s even more gay. (like… by miles.)
So if you want to try it, feel free, but please don’t expect anything like my other work.
Awesome, I love isekai!
…Shit. You may be in the wrong place, then.
Let’s start over. If you enjoy stories about teenagers who are transported to video game worlds where they’re gifted omnipotent magical powers, fawned over by every member of the (one) gender they prefer, never give another thought to the life they left behind, and bop around being the center of the universe — that’s great, I love that for you, but you aren’t going to find much of that here.
This series builds on a few of the tropes and cliches (reborn in a magical world; one extremely specific magic power per isekai’d person) to tell a story about a tired queer millennial therapist who misses her old life intensely, but does her best to build a new one. It’s escapist in some ways and overly real in others. It touches on things like dealing with the trauma of the character’s own death, treating people from the fantasy world like real people instead of NPCs, and how to use your magical gifts in a healthy manner.
So if you like some isekai, or find yourself wishing the genre did a wider variety of things… come sit by me. We have a lot to talk about.