What would you like readers to know about you? 

I’m taking a break from writing until it brings me joy again.  

What is your book about for those who haven’t read it? 

It’s about grief and struggling to let go; struggling to move on. And struggling to fill the void of the loss when it consumes you. 

From the book: 

“Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her. 

Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the sudden loss of his parents. It’s causing an avalanche of secret anxieties, so he counts on his trusty voice recorder to convey the things he can’t otherwise say aloud. He could really use a friend to navigate a life swimming with pain and loss and all the lovely moments in between. And then he meets Naima and everything’s changed—just not in the way he, or she, expects. 

Six Goodbyes We Never Said is no love story. If you ask Naima, it’s not even a like story. But it is a story about love and fear and how sometimes you need a little help to be brave enough to say goodbye.” 

What has been your inspiration for writing it? 

Myself. I have OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, and clinical depression. Six Goodbyes is a version of me in hopes of helping others understand these disorders and those who live with them. 

What was your favorite scene or part of your book to write? 

Naima’s tics, which have, at one point or another, been my own. They give her disorder a visceral meaning. 

What books or authors inspired you to become a writer? 

I wrote to escape. When I was younger, I hated reading — mostly because there were few books I felt I could relate to. I’d say there are authors now I look up to, but there weren’t when I first had the dream of becoming an author. I wanted to become my own inspiration. 

What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write a book? 

Don’t. But seriously. It’s a brutal business with little reward unless you get lucky. If you go for it anyway (as I did, knowing all of this), prepare for it to kill your joy of writing, your faith in following dreams, and your love of books. There are so many stories and so much competition, write the book of YOUR heart and don’t try to be the next Angie Thomas or the next Sarah Dessen. Be YOU. Write YOUR stories. 

Website 
 

SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID 

Wednesday Books |  9.24.19 Buy it HERE 
 

THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH 

St. Martin’s Griffin | OUT NOW | Buy it HERE