The Reading Bud

Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring the excerpt from author S.A. Sterling‘s latest release, AWAKE – Notes from the Quiet Hours.

About the Book

2:47 a.m. Again.
For two years, she woke in the quiet hours—when the house slept, when the world felt suspended between night and morning. In that stillness, she began to write.
AWAKE is a collection of sixty nights lived in real time: the hum of insomnia, the weight of perimenopause, the questions that surface at 3 a.m. when defenses are down.
These pages don’t offer solutions. They offer presence.
For anyone who’s ever felt alone in the dark hours, this book is company.

You can find AWAKE: Notes from the Quiet Hours here:
Ebook | Paperback

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Book Excerpt

Before

I don’t sleep through the night anymore.

Started sometime in my late forties. 2:30 a.m. felt like a normal time to wake up. Sometimes 3:00. Sometimes 4:00.

I tried the rules. Magnesium. No screens. Worked sometimes. Mostly didn’t.

This isn’t a book about fixing it. I don’t know how to fix it. Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re reading this at 3 a.m. because you can’t sleep either.

I wrote these over two years. In real time. When I was awake and everyone else was asleep.

If you’re awake too—you’re not alone.

How to read this book

Read one entry or ten.

Start anywhere.

Stop when you feel less alone.

Night 1 — The Buzz

2:47 a.m.

That hum again. Not a sound, a feeling. Low and steady under my skin.

My legs feel electric, like they want to walk somewhere.

Slippers. Bathroom. Back to bed.

Five minutes. Ten. Nothing.

Check the time. Shit.

I’m up.

Lemon. Ginger. Salt. Steam fogging the mug.

Desk lamp on. Laptop glow.

Bedroom door closed behind me. Lino probably heard me leave.

But he’ll stay in bed until morning. Unlike me.

Anthony’s face flashes in my mind. Him holding the baby.

I should be happy. I am happy. I’m just tired.

Still awake.

Night 6 — Both Languages

2:53 a.m.

My thoughts switch languages mid-sentence.

English. Then Italian. Then back.

I don’t choose. It just happens.

Sometimes worry speaks Italian.

Sometimes English.

Comfort doesn’t have a language. Or has both.

I dream in both too.

My brain can’t pick a side.

Neither can I.

Night 8

3:39 a.m.

My chest is hot. My feet are freezing.

I’m both sweating and shivering.

Perimenopause, probably.

I hate that word. Too clinical for what it feels like.

Like someone else is driving my body and won’t tell me where we’re going.

Lino still in bed.

He’ll say I look tired in the morning. I’ll nod.

We won’t talk about the rest. Both of us knowing I’m lying.

I sip ginger water. Bitter.

Hope it burns the hormones out of me.

It doesn’t.

Night 20 — Resi’s Awake Too

3:14 a.m.

My phone lights up.

Resi. My sister.

You awake?

I type back. Yep.

Three dots. Then: This is ridiculous.

I almost laugh.

She’s five minutes away in her village. Bruno and Gabriel asleep in their beds.

Both of us awake in the dark.

It helps. Knowing I’m not the only one.

Go back to bed I type.

You first she sends back.

Neither of us will.

Night 47

3:42 a.m.

I’m so tired of this.

Two years of waking up at 3 a.m. and I’m still here. Still awake. Still typing at this desk.

When does it get better? Does it get better?

Everyone talks about acceptance like it’s this peaceful thing you arrive at.

I don’t feel peaceful. I feel exhausted.

Tomorrow the alarm at 6:30. The coffee that doesn’t help. The fog.

My eyes burn. My back hurts. I just want to sleep like a normal person.

The lemon water’s gone cold. Again. I drink it anyway.

Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I’ll sleep through the night.

Probably not.

Night 57 — So Quiet

3:59 a.m.

The quiet’s different tonight.

Not lonely. Just… full.

I can hear my pulse. My breathing.

I’m not trying to fix anything. Just sitting here. Breathing.

Usually that feels too loud. Tonight it’s okay.

Maybe peace looks boring.

I’ll take it.

You’ve Read 6 Nights.

There are 54 more.

More raw nights. More honest moments. More company in the dark hours.

Continue the journey:
Paperback: $11.99 [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXXHH9M9]
Ebook: $3.99 [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXTSKP6B]

“This is definitely a great read, especially as we get older—it gets harder. It feels good to know there’s others that go through the same things.”
— Tina, Amazon Reader

Thank you for being awake with me.
— S.A. Sterling

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About The Author

S.A. Sterling

S.A. Sterling writes about real life: the quiet struggles, late-night thoughts, and moments that push us to grow. She’s lived across oceans, taught languages for years, and met women from all walks of life who share one thing in common: the desire to keep showing up, even when life gets messy.

Her latest book, AWAKE: Notes from the Quiet Hours, was born from sleepless nights and honest reflection. Before that, she wrote Ride On!—the story of Dame Sarah Storey’s extraordinary journey of resilience—and several books designed to help women navigate everyday life with more clarity and courage, including Executive Functioning Skills for Women with ADHD, The 369 Manifestation Journal, and The Women Rising Strong 2024 Workbook.

She lives in northern Italy with her husband, where she teaches, writes, and keeps a pot of lemon water on her desk for the early hours that refuse to sleep.

You can find author Sterling here:
Author Website | X | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | YouTube | Pinterest

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