About the Author

I never expected anyone to read the stories I wrote.

Writing began as something private for me—a place to put the thoughts, emotions, and stories I wasn’t ready to share with the rest of the world. That changed when my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and made it her dying wish to see my name in print. Her wish gave me the courage to turn something I’d always kept to myself into something I was finally willing to share.

My first published story, Summer Love Autumn Goodbye, was also one of my most personal. Chad wasn’t simply a character. He was my first love and a very real person in my life. Writing a story shaped by his loss allowed me to explore not only suicide, but the lasting impact it has on the people left behind.

From there came the Self Inflicted saga and Aurora’s story—a journey through self-harm, abuse, love, survival, and healing. Those books helped me discover what would become one of the most important parts of my writing: telling difficult stories that remind readers they aren’t alone.

That belief became #YouAreNotAlone, a message that continues to run through much of my work. My contemporary stories aren’t afraid to explore subjects that can be uncomfortable or painful, including mental health, suicide, self-harm, abuse, grief, and LGBTQ+ identity. I believe difficult stories deserve to be told, but I also believe there should always be room for hope.

Eventually, I decided I wanted to tell stories in entirely different worlds, too.

My writing has since expanded beyond contemporary YA and into adult romantic fantasy, where complicated characters, magic, prophecy, trauma, love, and found family give me entirely new ways to explore many of the same questions that have always existed at the heart of my books.

Whether I’m writing about a teenager trying to survive the hardest years of their life or someone discovering that everything they’ve been taught about their world is a lie, my stories ultimately come back to the same thing:

Surviving what tried to break you doesn’t have to be the end of your story.

When I’m not writing, you can usually find me reading an ebook or listening to an audiobook, spending entirely too much time at the theater, watching wrestling, listening to music far louder than necessary, or getting distracted by one of the many other things competing for my attention.

I write for the ones still standing in the storm.

#YouAreNotAlone