While I wish I could say that burnout can be solved by writing a book, it can’t. But it was a good start and helped me realize how much I love education and teaching. It helped me find my way back to what I love.
During the middle school years, kids are in different phases of development, navigating puberty, exploring their identities, and transitioning from childhood into young adulthood. To say a lot is going on would be an understatement.
My debut novel, Hello, Goodbye, has many elements at play— adventure, mystery, humor, and romance—but, at its core, lies a love story. But the great love of this tale isn’t romantic love, but rather the pure, unconditional love shared between a grandparent and grandchild.
Within BEATING HEART BABY, performances serve as checkpoints for the characters’ internal worlds and showcases for my version/vision of music writing. The roar of an audience cheering for you; the ozonic tang in the air as you prepare to (p)lay your heart on a stage.
The book takes place in 1995. And when my main character, a fifteen-year-old musical prodigy named Rainey Cobb is gifted a mixtape by Juliet, the girl she has a hopeless crush on, she cradles the tape like a sacred object.