Summer Triangle follows three friends navigating personal traumas who learn to lean on each other during these challenging times and see the true value of friendship. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

In its earliest iteration, Summer Triangle’s story was driven by its setting. I spent bits and pieces of every summer for decades on the Delmarva peninsula. Summer Triangle began very much as a love letter to the region, and I wanted the reader to feel immersed in its coastal communities. Long before I knew the story I wanted to write, I knew where it wanted it to take place.

However, in hindsight, I also realize now that I was writing about strong female friendships as a specific form of escapism. For a few years, one of my children suffered from a debilitating inflammatory condition, and I was his primary caregiver. While I was so privileged to be the one taking care of him, I was also exhausted and extremely isolated. Without realizing it at the time, I created rich fictional friendships because I couldn’t participate in my own. I have a much greater appreciation for the inimitable importance of adult friendships now – for myself and for these fictious women – as a source of empowerment and support.

Natalie, Eliana, and Allegra are all facing different challenges but come together to support one another in this story. What was your inspiration for the characters and their relationship?

In order to convey their independence – and their isolation, I endeavored to create three very different characters with very distinct backstories. From the outside, they appear to have little in common. They live in different areas of the United States, with unique professions and personalities. On its face, their only real commonality is their hidden loneliness – not that any of them would admit that out loud.

In addition, one of my primary goals in Summer Triangle was to juxtapose new and old friendships. Though Natalie and Eliana’s friendship has endured decades, they’re not actively involved in each other’s day-to-day lives. They believe that they know each other well. Yet in reuniting as adults, they discover new elements to each other’s story. They still have the capacity to surprise each other.

Allegra crosses paths with them later. She meets them after she’s spent years erecting walls and keeping people at a distance. Her previous marriage cost her many friends. She brings the same distrust and fear to potential friendships that she brings to romantic relationships. Similarly, Natalie and Eliana – perhaps too insular in their friendship – resist letting anyone else in. Having spent so many years living apart, their reflex at first is to exclude Allegra entirely.

All three women have lived a lot of their adult lives fiercely independent – and must re-learn how to make and keep a friend. In their own ways, they each demonstrate the vulnerability and courage required to build a tribe.

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

Friendship will stand out as Summer Triangle’s most obvious theme. Hopefully, readers will find friendships shown prismatically in the book: their beauty, their fragility, their messiness, and their significance. The friendships revealed are as imperfect and valuable as the characters who create them.

Alongside friendship, Summer Triangle also confronts the idea of forgiveness: whether it’s necessary to rebuild and to move on, or whether it becomes another toxic act if it’s given under societal pressure. All three women struggle in their own way to make peace with people who have wronged them. Ultimately, they rely on each other to chart a path forward.

Finally, Natalie’s story tackles a timeless question: how do we treat magnificent art created by someone who wasn’t such a good person? While her father was a venerated musician in his lifetime, he was an abusive man. Part of her journey in reconciling with her past involves deciding whether to allow his music into her life.

Is this the first book in a series? If so, when is next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

Yes, I’m currently working on the sequel to Summer Triangle. Some of Summer Triangle’s characters will make cameos in the sequel, and one individual will find an exciting new arc in my next book. The sequel focuses more on family dynamics, rather than friendship. Its setting offers a fuller picture of the Delmarva region, as it’s centered right on Chesapeake Bay in St. Michaels, Maryland. I will be sure to keep readers apprised of its development via social media.

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