There’s something both fascinating and unsettling about entomology. The way we study insects—pinned, preserved, arranged under glass—offers a kind of reverence, but also a kind of violence. I’ve always been struck by the stillness of a pinned insect, especially when the wings are spread. Something about that tension, the possibility of flight held down by a single pin, breaks my heart.

I find myself thinking: What if I took the pins away? Would they fly?
Of course not—they’re already gone. But if, by chance, I saw the faintest twitch of a wing, I like to think I would return that creature to the sky.

The tension between beauty and restraint, life and stillness, is at the heart of MY TURN’s cover. It’s not just a visual choice, but a reflection of the book’s central themes: emergence, vulnerability, and flight.

Today, for paid subscribers, I’m sharing the full cover and the story behind it.

I hope you’ll join me.