You’ve written for both adults and young adults, but you write mostly for young adults. What draws you to writing for this age group?
Teenagers have always been my favorite age group to work with and listen to. Adolescence is such an intense, dramatic, and life-changing period in our lives where we’re trying to sort out fundamental questions of identity: Who are we? Who do we want to become? Who do we want to love? Beset by competing messages and pressures from parental figures and peers, a major part of the journey is learning to identify and assert our own needs and wants apart from the expectations of others. And, in situations where families of origin are unwilling or unable to offer unconditional love and acceptance, it often involves creating our own intentional communities of care and support.
Why do you think it’s important to teens to be reading stories that feature abuse and domestic violence?
As a volunteer comprehensive sexuality educator, I’ve found that it’s so important for young people to be aware of the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. An astonishing number of teens experience dating violence, which often leads to adult domestic violence. I had a dear friend in high school who was drawn into an abusive dating relationship and married the young man when she became pregnant. In my youthful ignorance, I actually thought her boyfriend’s extreme possessiveness and need to know her whereabouts at all times spoke of his undying love and was romantic. I had no idea these were dangerous red flags, and indeed, his abuse escalated physically and emotionally. It took my friend many years to escape from the relationship.
Why is Missing Mom important to you? What elements shaped this story?
With my own mother out of the picture during my childhood due to mental illness, I was thrilled to acquire a wonderful stepmother at age of twelve. I was unusually close to her during my teenage years, as Noelle is to her mom, and I know that like Noelle, I would have gone to any lengths to find my new mother, had she disappeared. My interest in abusive relationships was sparked early on by having a close friend who was drawn into one. In addition, my first book was a nonfiction book for the education market, Teen Rape, and my research made me aware of familial sexual abuse, which is often hidden and under-reported. Finally, I’m a hopeless romantic, and Noelle’s relationship with Ravi was undoubtedly partially inspired by my own romance with my husband. We met in a dance company.
What was it like to publish your first book in your sixties?
It was terribly exciting! Writing While I Danced got me hooked on writing fiction. While I was still dancing, I’d moonlighted as a freelancer, mostly writing articles about the challenges of parenting adolescents for regional parenting magazines. But I honestly hadn’t thought I could write fiction until I did! While I Danced gave me the confidence to return to school and earn my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. I learned so much there and have just kept going ever since.
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