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A Constellation of Roses
I grew up in a tiny, rural Kansas town with a population of about 150 people. When I tell readers that there were more cows than people in that particular region of the United States, I’m not joking. It was a big deal when the town finally got a stop sign. At our local high school, it was normal for students to drive tractors to prom and get excused absences for the first day of hunting season.
I wrote A Constellation of Roses in the front seat of my car, in empty classrooms on lunch break at work, during my kids’ swimming lessons, late at night, and before the sun came up. First and second (and third and fourth) books are seldom products of long, luxurious writing sessions in beautifully appointed private offices. They are almost always the result of a someone’s deep love of storytelling, and all the stolen moments they can accumulate as they speak the story of their heart.
When I was seventeen, I bought a 1972 Mach 1 Mustang that I found abandoned in an alley. But when I came back to pick it up later, someone had stolen the carburetor, and I had to miss cleaning up the high school gym for prom to call the police. I was going to get fined for my absence until I showed my teacher the police report in the newspaper. To honor my love of that car, I put it in my debut YA novel, The Deepest Roots.
I got my start writing novels at the age of eleven, when I decided that I hated the ending of Little Women, where Jo marries Professor Bhaer instead of Laurie. I rewrote the last chapters so that Jo and Laurie end up together. In my version, Jo keeps writing and they travel the world having adventures. Basically, I was writing Little Women fanfiction before fanfiction was a thing.
Both of my grandmothers had eleven siblings. Farm families in Kansas were large during the Great Depression, and I grew up thinking it was completely normal to have dozens of great aunts and uncles. So when it came time to write the wise-cracking Auntie character in A Constellation of Roses, I had more than enough source material to draw from.
I love to travel. I wasn’t fortunate enough to travel far from home or even get on a plane until I was thirty years old, but since then, I haven’t stopped. My favorite place to visit is Tokyo.
I have two bulldogs, Princess Jellybean and Captain Jack Wobbles. In regard to their unusual names, I let my children name all our pets, and so far I have no regrets. People ask me why I like bulldogs, and my answer is that I feel a certain kinship. We are both deeply devoted to our family unit, we love snacks, and sometimes we snore.