Wallflower Pen Pals tells the true story of two people who fall in love after an exchange of letters and their emotional journey towards meeting one another. Why was this an important book for you to write?

This story was an important book to write for me as I was looking for a good story. In 2010, I wrote a self-help book that I self-published. It was such a thrill to have accomplished something I’ve always aspired to do—write a book. I did not know much beyond that about marketing that particular book as it languished on the online bookshelf for many years. Following that, I grabbled with changing my genre and aspired to write a novel someday. When I found these letters after my parents passed away, I only intended to read them from curiosity over the years as they were treasured and preserved. However, after reading one of the letters from my father, his words spoke to me. And I quote, “You know, I wish the world knew about our beautiful friendship.” I was inspired at that moment to put it into a book. Since there were 100 letters between them in a six-month period, I thought it was a sufficient amount of words for a novel. This story is sweet, innocent, and inspiring to share with the world.

What was the most surprising thing you uncovered while reading these letters?

The most surprising thing I uncovered from these letters was that this couple (my parents) did not know each other before they became pen pals.

Did you include all the letters in this book or was there any that didn’t make it in?

Honestly, I missed one letter from my mother. It was inadvertently placed at the end of the letter stack. I decided it wasn’t necessary to add it anyway as it didn’t add or subtract to the story. This letter was about how she mistakenly wrote her name/address upside down on the envelope and how this funny mistake lightened up her depressed friend.

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

My next book will be titled Wallflower Lovers. I thought this would be a good story about their courtship based on my mother’s diary. This, of course, will be fiction. More like a young adult romance/clean and wholesome kind of story. I am already writing the book. I do not have a timeline as of yet.

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