Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of books do you write?
I write stories that live somewhere between time travel and romance, with a deep curiosity about how we got here—but also where we might be going if we work together and take action. That’s where the solarpunk piece comes in.
At their core, all my books are about connection. Across time, across choices, across the moments that shape who we become.
I’ve always been fascinated by history—not the big events, but the quieter human stories underneath them. The decisions, the consequences, the what-ifs of people living their lives in the time and space that they arrive in, doing the best they can with the resources available. A lot of what I write is rooted in that curiosity and invites readers to explore the past while thinking a little differently about the future.
And yes…the teacher in me absolutely shows up in my fiction.
I don’t write lessons here, but I do write stories that ask questions. The kind that encourage reflection, that nudge you to look a little closer, and maybe look into the past with more curiosity—and into the future imagining something different. I’m especially drawn to the idea that even after all of that has been considered, there’s still a path toward a brighter, more connected future.
If you like stories that blend emotion, time, and a bit of “what does this all mean?”—you’ll probably feel at home here.
And if you’re someone who enjoys digging deeper, my nonfiction work explores a lot of those same ideas in a more direct, research supported way— but even there, you’ll find that stories are still the heart of my work.
Where should I start?
If you’re not sure where to begin, start with Time After Time. That’s where the story first took shape, and it gives you the clearest sense of the world, the stakes, and the threads that carry through the rest of the series.
Right now, the Soul Trade series has two clear parts. The earlier books lay the foundation of the world and the characters, and then the story expands into the fairy tale fusions, each with its own seasonal feel. After Into the Night and Break Free, we’ll be moving into a third part that follows a new set of adventures connected to Rose’s dance studio (Kiss from a Rose)—so you’ll start to see the world open up in some really fun (and slightly unexpected) ways.
That said, I’m a big believer in following the story that’s calling to you. If another book is the one that catches your attention first, go there. You’ll still be able to find your footing and settle into the story.
There’s no wrong place to begin—but starting at the beginning lets you watch everything unfold in the way it was first imagined.
Do I need to read the Soul Trade series in order?
That depends.
If you're a reader who really wants to snuggle in to the story community and know all the things, then yes.
But, if you're a reader who prefers to grab what sounds AMAZING in that moment so you can go on that particular adventure, you can do that too. Each book in the Soul Trade series is written so you can step into the story and understand what’s happening without feeling lost. I’ve never been a fan of locking readers out of a story just because they didn’t start at page one of book one.
That said, the emotional threads, character relationships, and some of the bigger “wait…what just happened?” moments will hit differently (and usually harder) if you read them in order.
So if you’re someone who loves watching everything unfold piece by piece, start at the beginning.
If you’re the kind of reader who follows the book that calls to you first—trust that instinct. You’ll still land exactly where you’re supposed to.
Either way, the story will meet you wherever you choose to explore.
Do I need to read the poetry books to understand what's happening in the series?
Great question. Again, it depends.
If you’re someone who really gets into the characters and wants to understand how they might be thinking or feeling before what you see on the page, check them out.
If you're a reader who loves poetry, check them out.
If you're a reader who is buckled in and ready to move to the next book without a poetry pause, that's perfect, too.
Find what works for you and go with it—here and in life.
Where did you get the idea for the Soul Trade series and what's your writing process?
I wrote pieces of Time After Time one frantic early morning after an at-best botched research presentation at a literacy conference. I had this extremely vivid nightmare and scratched it down at breakfast before pulling myself together and going to listen to James Patterson’s keynote speech. Being who he is, he was very generously giving away autographed books—but we were told not to speak to him, just keep the line moving.
I confided in my co-presenter that I refused to read or even engage with Patterson because he had killed Ozymandias in the book Lake House. She told him that to his face and I swear to you he lit up and started talking with me. The conference organizers weren't happy, but he seemed to be—and I definitely was. In the end, he told me he had no intention of killing Oz—but that Oz made that choice as he was writing the story. That made perfect sense to me, even if I still vehemently disagree with it to this day.
Years went by as I kept writing, revising, and circling back to the story…
I got really desperate to become a published writer and ended up on the “attend all the writer conferences” circuit… where my work somehow wasn’t enough of anything and was too much of everything at the same time. That made a kind of demented sense to me because I was used to hearing that refrain in academic spaces—the chorus of “you’re not doing this right,” “this isn’t how it’s been done before,” or “you don’t sound enough like THIS.” Of course, that’s exactly what the agents I tried to book with said too. I really had no interest in changing me or my story to fit into someone else's mold.
I don't do that in my day job and I wasn't going to do it in my fiction work either.
Still, I try to learn something in all experiences--so I listened a little bit and I cut the first five or so chapters of Time After Time and then I stepped away from fiction writing again. Honestly I was at the point in my life where I was ready to be done with fiction writing...just delete it and walk away--or put it somewhere on my computer that would be so far out of my way to get to that I wouldn't look at it. But then I met R.L. Stine at this very small zoom meeting one of my colleagues hosted a few autumns back. Bobby as he calls himself is an absolutely lovely human and I really hope I get the chance to visit with him again some day. He talked about his experiences in writing, and unlike James Patterson—who seems to write in an almost meditative space—Bobby said his method is built on a very rigid structure. He outlines every chapter to map where he's starting and where he's going—which I was not on board with at all.
Not for my fiction work.
But that pesky “learn something from the experts” voice kicked in, and since I was stuck on my academic writing, I tried his method. Of course it worked beautifully and I sent him a handwritten note thanking him for sharing his expertise and I will admit that yes, now I use that occasionally in my fiction writing.
I came back to fiction writing one January—revising, creating, and just flowing (Patterson style most days, Stine on others, always on my own terms, without thinking about those agents who now live in my memory as self-doubt)—when I realized that I tell my students to be brave enough to be who they are and that they have to have courage to get where they want to go. I tell them that doesn’t mean they’re fearless—it just means they have to move forward through the fear to do the awesome things they want to do.
Then I challenged myself to be who I told my students that they had the ability to become. I knew I had to be the brave version of myself and take the next steps.
I have always wanted to write fiction and I finally decided it was time to face my notebook—you know the one…we all have THAT notebook, the special one where only truly sacred things get to live. I opened the notebook, and over the last year I’ve been writing the books I always wanted to write—because once I subtracted agents and a hunger for traditional success from my process, I could finally tell stories in a way that made sense to me—and trust they might make sense to others, too.
My wish is for each of my stories to reach the people that need to read them and that they help those readers remember that we are all in this together.
That’s what I hope for in every story I write.
And I know my stories will find the people that need to read them, one way or the other.
That’s it, that's my process—and that’s how the Soul Trade series began.