Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a millennial business professional, working in Supply Chain Management in the Consumer Products industry. I love my job, and I love my side hustles, including writing! I have published one memoir, which consists of travel memoirs and ramblings from the first 30 years of my life. I also co-authored a Children’s book with my family members, using our experience as a busy family to spread messaging on how to stay connected in the midst of chaotic schedules.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
If You Love Me, Come Find Me. This memoir was inspired by my love for writing, and my fervent need to write in order to release my soul. I have always been called to writing, as if words had an urgency to move from my fingers onto paper. As I set out to find out who I truly was, at the age of 16 I made a risky decision to travel to Europe with a school group. The magic and awe I experienced there boiled over in me. The only way I knew to capture my growth and experience was to bleed my story onto paper. I continued this habit through my twenties, taking a solo trip every year from the age of 24 until 30. My wonder and awe of the world, the magic it has shown me, and my love for comedy make this read endlessly entertaining and fun for me every time I reread it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
For some reason, I love to write in the silence of a library. Perhaps it makes me feel closer to my craft, being surrounded so vastly by words of all genres. There is an inherent coziness to a library, at least for us book nerds, and being amongst the genius in that setting is inspiring!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Franz Kafka, J.K. Rowling, Kristin Hannah.
What are you working on now?
I am working on my first full-fledged fiction novel, genre and title to be revealed!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I went the self-publishing route with my first memoir, due to the objective of my project. My book was a labor of love, and of sharing my story with my loved ones.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. Write when it feels great, when it hurts, and when you don’t feel anything. Remember, in order to have experiences to write about, you have to go out and live life fully.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Fake it until you make it.
What are you reading now?
Station Eleven (for the second time)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on a full fiction novel.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Night Circus
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The Jungle Book