Meet Justin Birckbichler.

Home: Fredericksburg, VA

Horoscope: Leo

Favorite Book: Move Your Bus by Ron Clark

Hero: Robert Downey, Jr.

Superpower: I’m either excellent at something or terrible. No middle ground.

Hardest Challenge: Losing my cat unexpectedly.

Guilty Pleasure: I’m rather partial to some Taytay and Miley, TikTok, and Pokemon Red.

Favorite Lacuna Loft Program: The “Young Adult Voices” Blog!

Proudest Moment: My Ted Talk

The best piece of advice I’ve ever received: Find your happiness.

How I stay mentally healthy: Writing, Reading, Exercise

Personal Mantra: “We don’t make excuses, we make changes.”

My favorite part of being part of Lacuna Loft: The awesome people.

Meet KM Hammond.

Home: Raleigh, NC

Horoscope: Pisces

Favorite Book: What?! I have to pick ONE? A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El- Mohtar and Max Gladstone, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, The Last Sun by KD Edwards, Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone, The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire, The Lady Astronaut Series by Mary Robinette Kowal. …Ran out of space!!…

Hero: My Mom!

Superpower: Getting up at ungodly hours. 🙂

Hardest Challenge: Forgiving myself and honoring who I was at the time I made my biggest mistakes.

Pleasure: Reading romantic comedies like Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar.

Favorite Lacuna Loft Program: Unspoken Ink!

Proudest Moment: Heh, no idea. But jumping off a cliff on my First Descents trip made me pretty damn proud of myself.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever received: Let yourself feel.

How I stay mentally healthy: Self-forgiveness and a lot of processing via creative writing.

Personal Mantra: #YOLOFuckIT! Take the risk – stop waiting for things to be perfect. Life will never be perfect. So just do it.

My favorite part of being part of Lacuna Loft: Our amazing community and the friendships I’ve made.