Before the Inhale : A Modern Fable
Before the Inhale is my first published work—written for anyone who’s ever felt themselves going numb and didn’t know how to come back. It’s a modern fable about a man drawn to an ancient river, where each crossing and encounter strips away the masks he’s lived behind. I wrote this because I believe many of us learn to survive by shutting down, and then one day realize we’ve been living from the neck up. This story is an invitation to return: to feeling, to presence, and to the life you keep meaning to live.
Not final cover art
Releasing 3-28-2026
About the Author
I’m Justin, a first time author, and I wrote Before the Inhale: A Modern Fable because I know what it’s like to move through life feeling numb—anxious, detached, and not fully inside each day. For a long time, I could function, perform, and keep going… while feeling strangely far away from myself.
This book started as a release. A way to put language to what I couldn’t explain, and to give shape to the quiet fight so many people carry without admitting it. But it didn’t stay only mine. As I wrote, it became a hope—something I could offer to anyone who has felt disconnected, stuck, or ashamed of how hard it is just to feel present.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re watching your own life from behind glass, I wrote this for you. You’re not alone. And you’re not broken—you’re human.
