Your book is set on the Sassafras River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Do you have a special connection with this area?

Yes! My father was in the Navy, so I grew up in many different towns and states. One of the few things that stayed constant in my life was my grandparents' summer cottage on the Sassafras River. Like Champs, the main character in my book, four generations of my family have lived, loved, and played there over the years. I love having a place to visit every summer that holds memories going back to my childhood. It’s a very special, very beautiful river.

Are the characters and events in your book patterned after particular family members or things that happened there?

No, and yes. The story and characters in Sassafras are fictional. But, like most authors, I draw from my personal experience with people, places, and events to craft relatable characters coping with real challenges. For example, some of Champs’s personality traits are drawn from my grandfather, but Champs is not my grandfather and his story is not my grandfather’s story. Similarly, I remember crabbing and being frightened by the cow nose rays and the huge wasp nest in the tree, but what happened in that scene did not happen to me or anyone else in my family. I made it up.

Your protagonist is a 71-year-old male. Did you ever find it difficult to write in the voice of an older person of the opposite sex?

Not really. I know a lot of old guys! And I had a great source of knowledge in my uncle. I texted him all the time with snips of dialogue, asking “Would a man say this?” or “How would you say this?” or “What word would you use instead of ‘penis’?” Then I would adjust it to fit Champs’s personality or the type of energy I wanted in a scene. My husband helped, too. I changed a whole plotline at one point after he argued that “a man” wouldn’t go about it that way. It annoyed me at the time because I loved the drama in that chapter. But the book was much stronger and believable once I listened and took it out—and still dramatic.

Were there any characters in the book that you struggled with or were difficult to bring to life?

Just one: Mel. She kept coming to me with different names, backgrounds, features, personalities, and roles in the plot. One of the trickiest editing tasks was going through the book and making sure she was a consistent character because I had changed her up so many times. She had three names in the book at one point. I’m happy with how she turned out, and in the end, she is one of my favorite characters.

Are you writing a sequel or prequel using the same characters on the Sassafras?

I’m deep into writing my second novel, but it is different from Sassafras, although a similar style or tone carries through it. I can’t imagine a good story without family secrets, flawed characters, and a lot of humor. I guess that’s how my real life is so it makes sense that it comes out in my novels!