This shouldn’t come as a shock, but I have a pretty active imagination. Luckily, it makes my career choice easier. But it doesn’t help when it comes to, well, almost everything else.
Case in point: my first book club appearance. I spent the morning trying to remember things like:
When did I actually start writing this book?
What was different about that draft?
How did I come up with the idea?
And my personal favorite: How did I even write an entire book?
The answer to that last question still eludes me.
I can’t tell you how I do it except that I just do. I come up with an idea. I make some notes. I start writing. I don’t typically outline. I don’t do much planning or plotting at all.
I’m not sure intuitive writing is a thing. But if it is, that’s my process. I go with it through the first draft, often exploring the characters’ internal motives. Contrary to what I used to think, the first draft isn’t where the magic happens. That comes later in all the other drafts that follow.
This type of writing process isn’t the most efficient for many. Some worry about wasted words. And yes, I do wind up with entire chapters, acts, and characters on the cutting room floor. But I don’t look at those words as being a waste. Instead, they build the characters, their world, and the plot. Every word I cut serves the final published story in some way.
The book club went great, by the way. They asked some thoughtful questions and shared some of their insights into the book. That was my favorite part—hearing readers connect with, fight for (and against) my characters, and just all-around enjoy the story. That’s what this whole wild and wonderful career is all about.
Exciting book news!
My third novel, Stages, is set to release on May 12, 2026!
Three lives entwined by one shattering truth.
At thirty-eight, Cam has built a career fixing companies while never letting anything or anyone break her. As she’s about to battle her workplace rival for a coveted promotion, she inherits an estate from a grandmother she believed died decades before.
Sixteen-year-old Josie is struggling to make it through high school. Between her father’s drinking and her mother’s prolonged absence, she’s desperate to stay invisible. When a school essay contest exposes more than she intended, her father reveals a truth that upends her world even more.
Sophia is a twenty-four-year-old who has learned that nothing pays the bills quite like a rich married man. After years of saving, she finally has the money she needs to start over. But just as she’s about to walk away, a message forces her to face a past she’s been trying to forget—and a future she isn’t sure she can have.
Stages is a powerful story about how buried secrets, inherited pain, and unresolved grief mold us into the people we become.
Preorder the Kindle version here. And stay tuned for updates and events as the publication date gets closer!
Attention Readers!
The hardest part about being a published author isn’t the writing (believe it or not), it’s reaching readers. So a few of us put our heads together and decided to start the kind of reading community we were looking for: one filled with contemporary fiction written by and for women. Introducing Iris & Ivy Reads, launching January, 2026. I’ll share more about it in the weeks ahead, but for now, subscribe to the Substack and become one of the first to join this vibrant reading community.
I ordered Stages and can’t wait to read it!
What a great cover! Can’t wait to read it.