Allison Oesterle

Allison Oesterle lives in Los Angeles with one very spoiled dog. She enjoys hiking, chocolate, and writes science fiction and fantasy. She hopes that her work speaks to the duality of serious or chronic illness—it is both an intensely personal and universal experience. Personal in that no two people’s experiences with serious or chronic illness are ever the same, and universal in that almost everyone will one day struggle with poor health, either their own, or someone else’s.

Response to creative prompt: "When I look in the mirror, I see..."

The photo published in Ailment represents a difficult period in my life. Within a one-year period, my long-term partner left me, I lost my job, and I experienced complications relating to a new chronic illness that landed me in the hospital. When I look in the mirror, I see... someone broken, someone who just wants it all to go away.