Color Me Skye follows a 12-year-old girl battling fear, grief, and a distant stepfather following the car accident that leaves her mother in a coma. Where did the idea for this story come from?

This story came partly from my own experience of losing my father, who served in the military when I was very young, and then dealing with the addition of a stepfather to our family. I would have loved to have had a book like this when I was growing up, to know that there were other kids like me experiencing the feelings I did. That’s my hope for this book, that it will reach kids who’ve lost a parent, or are dealing with a new step-parent, that they’ll see themselves in the story and learn that healing is possible and there are resources available to help them.

When creating Skye, did you have a plan for development and character traits, or did they grow organically as you were writing the story?

I wanted Skye to grow and change into someone who was more other-centered at the end than she was at the beginning. But some of the specifics, like her being unable to sit in the front seat after the accident, weren’t planned.

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

People are seldom who you think they are, healing doesn’t always look like what you think it will, and it comes when you open your heart to new possibilities.

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

I’m working on a middle-grade fantasy in which the main characters are fairies who must go on a quest to save their forest and insect friends from destruction by humans. I have no idea when it might get published, but I’m enjoying the journey of writing it.

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