Michelle forgot almost everything.

Almost.

She didn’t forget she was a writer.

When she was three, Michelle picked up a pencil and started writing. Eventually, the pencil became a MacBook. She wrote three romance novels and was under contract for a fourth.

Then, in 2020, her gallbladder ruptured. After emergency surgery, she woke up without nearly 90 percent of her memories.

Diagnosed with retrograde and anterograde amnesia, Michelle had to learn how to live without her past—and build a present she could hold on to.

Five years later, she’s still getting to know herself.

Here, she shares what comes back.

Bits. Pieces. Fragments.

Time after time.