Nix/86 – Diary Comic – Days 37-39

Days 37-39 of a ongoing diary comic called Nix/86 which tells my tale of trying to regain autonomy and mobility while dealing with chronic illness. #diarycomic #autobiographical #graphicnovel #comic #personalstorytelling

https://www.hargie.com/wp/2026/03/nix-86-diary-comic-days-37-39/

Nix/86 – Diary Comic – Days 34-36

Days 34-36 of a ongoing diary comic called Nix/86 which tells my tale of trying to regain autonomy and mobility while dealing with chronic illness. #diarycomic #autobiographical #graphicnovel #comic #personalstorytelling

https://www.hargie.com/wp/2026/03/nix-86-diary-comic-days-34-36/

NIX/86 – Days 31-33 – Diary Comic

ALT TEXT - DAY 31 Day 31 - 0 Steps - 24/24 No Assist Picture: The entire page is covered in curved and straight lines of ballpoint pen - blue, red, and black. ALT TEXT - DAY 32 Day 32 - 0 Steps - 25/25 No Assist The Phase of descent into madness. Picture: The background of the page is purple and there is a banner across the bottom from left to right leading to a triangle.

https://www.hargie.com/wp/2026/03/nix-86-days-31-33-graphic-novel-zine/

#comicdiary #graphicnovel #comics #personalstorytelling #zine

Seen, Heard, and Owning My Story: My Bold Journey Interview Is Live

Just a short blog to let you know the Bold Journey interview is officially out, and I’m sitting with a mix of gratitude, vulnerability, and quiet pride.

This wasn’t just another interview for me. It felt like a pause. A moment to look back at the winding, messy, nonlinear road that led me here and to name it without minimizing it.

In the interview, I talk about resilience, curiosity, grit, and the people who shaped me. I talk about my Mamá teaching me how to read in Spanish, about becoming a mother young, about building a creative life that didn’t come with a blueprint. I talk about learning through discomfort, about doing things wrong and still moving forward, and about choosing growth even when quitting felt easier.

What I appreciate most about Bold Journey is that they don’t ask you to polish your story into something palatable. They let it be real. And that matters to me, because so much of my work, both as a writer and as a person, lives in that space between survival and softness.

If there’s one thing I hope people take from the interview, it’s this: you don’t need permission to evolve. You don’t need to have it all figured out. Curiosity, persistence, and the willingness to keep learning can carry you further than perfection ever will.

This interview feels like a marker. Not an arrival, but a recognition. A reminder that the work matters. That the story matters. That I matter.

You can read the full interview here:
👉 https://boldjourney.com/meet-johanny-ortega/

And if you’re in a season of doubt, of rebuilding, of becoming, I hope you see yourself somewhere in these answers.

On Unfinished Work, Ghost Stories, and the Fear That Fuels Me

There are stories that climb onto my back like spirits. They whisper, fidget, demand attention. And until I write them down, they don’t let go.

I used to think the scariest part of being a writer was starting. But it’s not.

It’s the haunting of the unfinished.

The Devil That Haunts Me was one of those stories. It lived in me for years, flickering like a light I couldn’t reach. I knew it was mine. I knew it mattered. But every time I tried to write it, something would pull me away. Fear, mostly. Of not doing it justice. Of getting it wrong. Of facing the memories that gave birth to it in the first place.

https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-devil-that-haunts-me-a-psychological-horror-novel/

And then, one day, I imagined myself dying with it still inside me.

That image cracked something open in me. I saw all my unfinished stories, buried with me like unbaptized spirits. Quiet, unshared. And the grief of that thought was unbearable. Because these stories—my stories—aren’t just mine. They’re meant to go out into the world and find people who didn’t even know they needed them.

I picture them like birds. Quiet, strange birds that perch on unsuspecting shoulders and whisper secrets. And the person listening is never quite the same afterward.

That’s what drives me.

Not perfection. Not deadlines. Not algorithms or book deals.

The need to release what’s inside me. To set these story-birds free. To let them find the readers who need them.

And here’s the thing I’ve had to learn the hard way: maybe finishing a story isn’t about a word count or a final draft. Maybe it’s about returning to yourself through the act of trying. Every time I go back to The Devil That Haunts Me, I’m not just finishing a book. I’m reclaiming a part of myself. I’m sitting with old ghosts, and instead of running, I’m saying: okay, I see you now. Let’s figure this out together.

So if you’re a writer—or a dreamer—with half-finished pieces of your soul scattered across notebooks or forgotten folders, know this:

Your stories aren’t lost. They’re just waiting. And they’ll keep whispering until you listen.

#creativeProcess #ghostStoriesAndHealing #LatineWriters #personalStorytelling #returningToYourself #TheDevilThatHauntsMe #unfinishedWork #writingAsRelease #writingThroughFear