Hi all, my name is Brittany J. L. May, I’ve worked as a communicator and marketer in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for 12 years now. The last eight I’ve spent in the music industry. My work is heavily tied to social media, and coming up in a time when Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were all new frontiers excited me—it still does—but the landscape has changed.
Personally, I’ve been trying to distance myself from social media for a couple of years now. I find it’s getting more and more saturated with ads you never wanted and suggested posts from accounts you never consented to follow. I’m tired.
Over the holidays, I removed Instagram and Facebook from my phone. I now only access them on my iPad or through a web browser. Ever since, I’ve turned that scroll time into writing time, and I can breathe again.
The last time I wrote a piece of creative fiction that I was proud of would have been in college, almost 15 years ago now. I’ve always been a writer; storytelling runs in my family, with authors on my dad’s side and verbal storytellers on my mom’s—it’s in my blood. But it’s scary, and vulnerable, and exposing.
For years I’ve been wrestling with ideas scattered in notebooks, outlines in Notion, and character sketches unfinished in Procreate. I’ve been procrastinating. That’s where Substack comes in. I created mine a few years ago, it was a place I owned but never inhabited. When I returned this time, creativity sparked and excitement set in.
This space is full of artists sharing their weird little short stories from their corner of the internet, and it’s beautiful. It feels like a place where I don’t have to be perfect, where I can falter but my fellow writers will catch me. All I see on here is support, admiration, and suggestions for growth—it’s safe.
With that, I would like to welcome you all to Aynsley Court. This space comes from my deep love of mysteries and historical fiction. Aynsley Court is named after the building a dear friend and I rented our first apartment in together, and I’ve always loved the name.
The long game is to write a full series, but instead of procrastinating with character sketches and outlines, this is my sandbox. For now, this space will hold short stories—almost like prequel material—that will help me world-build and get to know my characters.
This is an exploratory and ever-evolving space. I ask for grace to be imperfect and to create on my own timeline, not a schedule.
I’m so excited to be here and to share my world and my words with so many other talented writers. I invite you all to join me at Aynsley Court and indulge in all the delicious secrets it has to tell.
If you’re subscribed (if not, link below), the first letter from Aynsley Court will land in your mailboxes on January 18th, and it’s part one of a four-part story to get everyone familiar with the building.
See you inside,
Brittany J. L. May
