Everything We Try to Hold follows a successful woman looking back across decades of family history, friendship, and loss, as buried secrets resurface, revealing how love, grief, and memory shape the lives we try to hold together. What was the inspiration for your story?

The inspiration for our story is taken from an actual event that Mikey discovered many years later. A complicated relationship! Using this as our basis, we layered it with some fictional characters and family situations.

The narration often feels conversational, almost confessional. How did you develop Caroline’s voice?

We wanted Caroline to speak openly to the reader, as a woman relating her personal trials and tribulations to a friend.

Caroline evolves professionally and personally over time. How does her creative work connect to her emotional journey?

As we developed Caroline’s journey, we compiled a comprehensive list of events drawn from our own and those we observed in our travels. Part of Caroline’s creative journey was taken from a nonfiction book I authored, and Mikey edited, detailing my several creative careers that produced my body of work. It detailed years of hard work with struggle and disappointment.

What do you hope readers feel after finishing the novel?

In the most difficult and demanding life stories, one can find happiness if you stay true to yourself.

“Collaboration is like carbonation for fresh ideas.” — Unknown

The creation of Everything We Try to Hold was borne out of a creative collaboration between two friends. My long relationship with Mikey (Michael) is based on an honest exchange of ideas without egos.