books

I Published a Book With My Brother (Still Feels Strange Saying That)

And it wouldn’t have been possible without Medium. :)

Anangsha Alammyan

25 Aug 2025 • 3 min read

Picture of Akshayarka and Anangsha — siblings and co-authors of the science-ficiton novel, “Parallels.”

And it wouldn’t have been possible without Medium. :)

I did something recently that still doesn’t feel real. My brother and I published a book.

Even typing that gives me goosebumps.

This is the first time I’ve ventured into science fiction, and the first time I’ve shared the byline with someone else.

If I’m honest, none of this would have happened without Medium. Let me tell you a little backstory.

Screenshot of the author’s book “Parallels” on Amazon

How Medium gave me courage

I was terrified when I started writing here.

Back in 2020, I’d stare at the “publish” button like it was a trap. Sometimes I’d post, then instantly regret it and want to delete everything.

But then, someone highlighted a line.

Someone else left a comment.

A stranger messaged me saying one of my stories gave them the motivation to keep going (I didn’t even know what to say back. I just sat there grinning like an idiot).

It wasn’t thousands of readers. My first few stories barely had 100 views. But that was enough.

Enough to convince me that maybe, just maybe, my words had some weight.

And that little nudge, that weird mix of validation and accountability, that’s what gave me the courage to consider writing something bigger.

Like, book-level bigger.

Writing with my brother (aka, learning how not to kill each other)

The story is 100% his brainchild.

He’s the one with the worldbuilding skills, the characters, the plot twists. I honestly don’t know how he keeps it all straight.

Me? I came in later. I gave the characters some backstory, played around with their dialogue, threw in a little extra drama, and added the juice.

Of course, the editing wasn’t smooth. He’d cut lines I was secretly attached to. I’d rewrite scenes he thought were “fine as is.”

We bickered. A lot.

But that friction made the story better.

He has the big vision. I obsess over tiny details. Somehow, the mix worked.

Why this book matters so much

For me, this book is proof. Proof that the quiet girl who wrote in margins and never finished anything finally saw something through.

Proof that Medium wasn’t just a random experiment. It was training wheels. The kind that gave me a launcpad to kickstart the life of my dreams.

And yeah, it’s about family. Writing with my brother, creating something we’ll both look back on, is special in a way I can’t fully explain.

Every time I hold the book, I think of how close I was to never doing this. To staying in that safe little space of drafts and daydreams.

And then I remember the comments, the highlights, the encouragement from people who didn’t even know me, and how that changed everything.

So yes, the book is out now. And it feels surreal. And scary. And exciting.

But mostly, it feels like proof that if you keep showing up, keep hitting “publish” even when you’re shaking a little, good things can happen.

If you love science-fiction, and you’d love to support this author on her journey, you can check out Parallels on Amazon today.