When Stars Align is a captivating story that shows how love and goals intertwine and the beauty in how two people make their relationship work despite the challenges. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I have worked in the medical setting for nearly fifteen years, and have listened to many coworkers express their concerns with finding the relationship/work life balance.  Also, like Elsie, I have personal experience with dating a medical student while I pursued my own dreams.

In all my works, I want the story to feel as real as possible, so I believe in using a piece of “real-life inspiration,” meaning that the events happened but have been exaggerated or slightly modified to make for a more interesting read. For When Stars Align I used my personal experience with my breakup with said medical student and the following loss of my grandmother as the main influences for the beginning of the story’s plot. Once I decided to use these two these events as the inspiration behind When Stars Align, the rest of the story just sort of came to me.

Elsie and Augustus are compelling characters. What were some driving ideals behind the development of their relationship?

When it came to creating Auggie and Elsie’s characters, I truly challenged myself. Not only did I want to create complex, relatable and realistic characters, I also wanted the reader to be able to connect to a “modern day love story.”

To create their characters, I took different traits from various people I know. I would add and subtract traits from Elsie and Auggie’s characters until I felt I had created a interesting, well-rounded individuals. Using traits from people I know really helped me make them come to life on paper.

As far as creating a relationship that I believe many men and women around my age (we’ll just say 30 something) would be able to relate to, I tried to find issues that are relevant to now. Sadly, we live in a time where ghosting exes exists and I know many people who have been on one end of the “ghosting”. I felt many readers would be able to relate to this modern-day relationship issue.

We also live during a time where I feel many men and women have felt the stress of having a fulfilling career as well as a happy love life. That’s why I made this the main relationship struggle between Auggie and Elsie.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

What role does destiny play in matters of the heart? How much control do we really have over the outcomes of our own lives?

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I am currently seeking a literary film agent for When Stars Align. I would love to see Elsie and Auggie come to life on screen.

I also have several completed manuscripts. At this time, I cannot share any more information other than that I am hoping to have another work published within a year’s time!

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