By Her Refusal &

In the forgotten reaches of the Louisiana bayou, Délia is the last woman alive who remembers the old rites—and the first bold enough to refuse their theft.When representatives from the Belle Noire Historical Society arrive on her doorstep with smiles, money, and promises of cultural preservation, Délia knows better. They don’t want to honor the salt-bound traditions passed through her bloodline—they want to own them.But refusal comes at a cost. Women like her aren’t meant to say no. And when she does, it sets off a chain of quiet retaliation and haunted warnings. As her visions grow sharper and the swamp grows still, Délia realizes something larger is stirring. There is a girl she does not know. A fire that is not her own. And a legacy that must survive beyond them both.Told in immersive prose with deep Southern Gothic roots, By Her Refusal is the powerful short story prequel to By Her Blood—a haunting tale of protection, inheritance, and the price of memory in a world that wants to rewrite history.Perfect for fans of Jesmyn Ward, Tracey Baptiste, and readers of Southern Gothic, historical fantasy, and ancestral mystery.