TEENREADS

What inspired you to start writing, and how did you develop your unique voice as
an author?
Hello, and thank you so much for having me! For as long as I can remember,
I’ve found solace in writing. Poetry, songs, speeches, manuscripts…my chosen
format has changed from time to time, but words are my therapy. It’s how I
connect with others, but also how I connect with myself. When I feel joyful, words
celebrate with me. When I feel lost, words guide me. When I feel broken, they heal me. Because I was not read to as a child, I never really thought about being an author when I was young. I was a musician and poet first, so I fell in love with the art of songwriting before anything else. But chord progressions didn’t feed my soul like lyrics did. Then, when I had children, the world of picture books came alive and it was like the heavens opened. The moments of bonding I had with my
children over these priceless stories were life-altering. The tears, the laughter, the
memories created while cuddled in a chair, book in hands, were precious. I just
remember thinking, this. This is what I’m meant to do. From there, it was a matter
of joining organizations like SCBWI and 12x12, learning the craft of picture book
writing (and later novels), finding the right critique partners, reading a ton, and
writing, writing, writing! I write cross-genre, so I think my voice differs a little
from project to project, but everything I write is built on rhythm, musicality, and
heart.

How do you approach the development of your characters? Are they based on real people, or do they come entirely from your imagination?
This is a great question! For me, it’s a mix. Some of my characters, like the
little brother (Wolfie) in STRONGER AT THE SEAMS, are very much based on
real people. Several of Wolfie’s quotes are straight out of my son’s mouth. But the
MC in STRONGER (Twyla) is far more complicated. Her story has much of
Cassidy’s truth in it (my daughter), but because I was writing the book as we were
living through her very real, very unresolved medical trauma, we both needed to
feel some distance. We needed room to heal and grieve in our own ways. The
father in STRONGER is sort of like my husband and I smooshed together, and
Twyla is her own person…with Cassidy’s shadow. The other characters have
sprinklings of people I knew in my childhood, but they are largely from my
imagination.

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What themes or messages do you hope readers take away from your work?
I want people to feel seen when they read my stories—regardless of whether
or not they’ve fought that exact fight. I write about tough subjects for a number of
reasons. I’ve been through a lot of trauma in my life, but more than that, I believe
that kids can handle a lot more than we often think they can. I might even go a step further—I think kids crave books with depth and pain. From a very young age, children begin asking about things like death, illness, divorce, etc. They have valid questions, and I believe we do them a disservice by avoiding difficult subjects just because we don’t want to “expose them” to these topics. Life is hard. Children will be exposed. The question is this: will they feel comfortable talking with us, or with others, when that happens? When readers close my books, I want them to know they’re not alone, but I also want them to feel a sense of hope. I want them to feel empowered. Like…yeah, things can get ugly. But I’m not flying solo out there. More than anything, that’s what I hope readers take away from my stories.

How do you handle writer's block or periods of low creativity? Do you have any
strategies to overcome these challenges?
I have been writing full-tilt since 2015, and I consider myself very lucky that
I’ve never really had writer’s block. I was just talking to my husband a few days
ago, and told him my problem is more writer’s diarrhea. I have a billion ideas, but
once I explore them, many are crap. Ha! But I don’t let that bother me. If I have a
picture book idea, I’ll start writing and either it pans out or it doesn’t. I believe that
nothing I write is wasted—even the crap. It all helps me grow, think, and learn. If I
have concept for a novel, though, I let it simmer far longer. I have three novels
swimming in my head right now that I know I’ll write, because they won’t let me
go. The characters are alive and biting at my heels. My biggest problem is finding
time to do everything I want/need to do. I have a day job now that often puts me on the road, I’m a mom to two teens with disabilities (one has cancer, one is
neurodivergent), I battle my own disability (RSD/ CRPS), we have a house full of
animals (two cats, two dogs, one bird, one bearded dragon), and we’re getting
ready to move in the next several months. Oh, and did I mention that I’m a
children’s author who does school visits and book promotions? So what do I do to overcome these challenges? One foot in front of the other, every day. I count my blessings a lot. Meditation, pilates, yoga, coffee, chocolate, music, family. Repeat.

Can you share some of the biggest challenges you've faced in your writing career and how you overcame them?
My biggest challenges have mostly revolved around life (cancer, the
pandemic, that kind of thing). But when it comes to just my writing career, I think
the first major challenge I faced was when I signed with the wrong agent. I made

the rookie mistake of signing with the first person who offered, despite several red flags, rather than believing in myself enough to think someone else might actually want to sign me someday. When we parted ways, I was paralyzed for a really long time—almost two years. I lost a great deal of confidence, thinking I was the problem. It wasn’t until I met a number of other prior clients of hers whom she’d also wronged that the pieces began falling into place again. The second challenge I’ve had to overcome is a universal one: silence. Rejection is hard, without a doubt, but even more difficult (in my opinion) is the lack of communication in this industry. The pace is excruciatingly slow, and sometimes we hear nothing at all following submissions. Even with an agent, the number of times we get crickets is painful. Everyone is overwhelmed, overworked, and the field is so highly competitive that some silence is understandable…but to me, it’s still one of the hardest things. It’s hard for your brain not to take on a negative narrative of its own!

What advice would you give to aspiring writers who are just starting out?
First—read, read, read. Whatever you want to write, you need to swim in it
first. When you read someone else’s work, figure out what connects with you and
what doesn’t. When something works, ask yourself, why? What was it that
resonated with you? Remember that writing is totally subjective, so there is no
right or wrong answer. The question is, what made it memorable for you?
Second—critique partners. Find your community. Perhaps some people are
just born writing nothing but masterpieces from their first typed word…but I don’t
think that’s a reasonable expectation. My critique partners no longer have to read everything I write over and over ad nauseum, but their input is still (and always will be) invaluable. Plus, the silence and rejection in this industry would make me lose my mind without their emotional support. No one gets the stress like critique partners do. Third—find your passion and write about that. Write the story only you can write. Write what you know, what you love, what you feel. If the topic comes from a passionate place, your reader will know. If you’re trying to force a topic that isn’t as meaningful to you, the reader will know that, too.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects or books you're working on that
readers can look forward to?
Sure! My next book is obviously my debut YA novel, STRONGER AT THE
SEAMS, from Blink/Harper Collins Focus. It comes out on October 1 and is
deeply personal to me.  I wrote it largely from my daughter’s bedside, over the
course of twenty-one rounds of chemo for brain cancer. It’s a fictionalized version of her story, about self-advocacy and acceptance in the face of medical hardship. After that, my next release will be another nonfiction picture book biography, called IZZY’S WHEELS: HOW TWO SISTERS REINVENTED THE WHEEL (Dial/PRH), illustrated by the fabulous Diana Mayo. Izzy and Ailbhe (pronounced AL-va) Keene are two remarkable young women from Ireland who created a company that makes colorful, interchangeable wheel covers so wheelchair users can express themselves through fashion. This book means a lot to me, as I spent two years in a wheelchair due to my disability (and thought I’d never walk again). After that, my next picture book is a super fun, rhyming, Boynton-esque romp called GET A HUG (S&S), illustrated by the immensely talented Lily Hoang-Zhu. We have a few other unannounced projects, a memoir out on sub right now that I’m co-writing with someone well-known in the disability space, and we just subbed my next YA novel package…so cross your fingers for me!