The Interview

First of all, congratulations on your new book! No matter where you are in you’re writer’s journey, every book is worth celebration! 

You have been writing for quite some time and have released several books, including those under a pen name. Every new book is a new journey, and over the years of talking to authors, I’ve found that for some, the journey changes as they write. What was the writing journey like for Everything She Never Knew? Was it similar to your experience with previous books, or did it differ? Any surprises?

The writing journey and process for me is different with every book. But perhaps the biggest difference with Everything She Never Knew was it is my first book using diary entries and switching between the past and present. One of the surprises is that I found writing the diary entries were “easier” once I had written a present scene. They were definitely connected.

Everything She Never Knew gives major telenovela vibes from the synopsis alone. At one point, very early on, I believe Claudia even jokes about her life feeling like a telenovela. For many young Latinas, memories of sitting with abuelas and moms and tias watching telenovelas are a cherished memory. So I have to ask, was this intentional or a happy accident?

This was very intentional. Although I rarely watched telenovelas with my own abuela, it was known to everyone in our family what times at night not to disturb her because she was watching them.

Sort of piggybacking off the previous question. Inspiration can come from the most interesting places. Andrea Stewart, for example, notes the inspiration for the Bone Shard Daughter as coming from a friend finding a shard of bone in their food, and we all know of Stephanie Meyer being inspired by My Chemical Romance for the Twilight Saga. What would you consider your inspiration for Everything She Never Knew?

I don’t know if I would call it the inspiration for the book, but Bridgerton – Season 3 was definitely the seed. Besides the romance plot line, there was a side plot about a broken friendship. I remember being emotional every time the two ex best friends would be on screen because I was so sad for them. And that’s when I knew I wanted to write a book that explored which would be harder to get over – a lost friendship or a lost love.

One thing that I quickly grew to love about this book was the journal entries interspersed throughout and how they added to the story in such a meaningful way. What brought you to use this particular writing technique?  

As I mentioned before, I had never written a book with journal or diary entries so it was a personal challenge to try it. And I wanted to use this technique for this particular book because I thought it was important for the reader to see the Claudia and Rachel friendship evolve over the years without having to bog the book down with lots of backstory. 

Last, but not least, there is so much that can be taken away from this book. I, for one, experienced some introspection on my childhood, and how my relationship with my mother and grandmother shaped me into who I am today. And while it took me a moment (probably because, like Claudia, I’m an overthinker), it made me remember the importance of community in times of need.  What do you hope readers can take away from Claudia’s story? 

I hope readers will see it as a story of resilience and self-growth. This isn’t a romance, but it is a love story. It’s about re-learning to love who you are and it’s about the love between mothers and daughters. I would hope that readers will connect with the characters and be proud of the journey they take and maybe that will inspire them in their own lives in some small way.