These typewritten secrets are from participants of my #ShareYourSecrets campaign who asked to have their handwriting kept private. Most of the secrets from this campaign are shared by teenagers I’ve met at high school visits and book festivals. However, a few are from adults who’ve also attended my events. These secrets have been shared anonymously to…
Today I’m sharing more secrets from the #ShareYourSecrets campaign. Many of these secrets come from teenagers I’ve met at high school visits and book festivals, and a few are from adults who’ve attended my events. These secrets have been shared anonymously to give a voice to the secrets we hide. Typewritten secrets are from participants who…
Since All We Left Behind came out in December, I’ve been collecting secrets. One of the major themes in All We Left Behind is the silence that surrounds Kurt and Marion’s secrets and how their desire to hide the past causes them to act in ways they normally never would. This is because secrets gain power from…
All We Left Behind is a book that talks about the complexities of sex. Teenage sex. It’s an undeniable theme in the novel. But it’s also a theme I avoid taking about. Why? Because I feel like I’m not supposed to talk about sex, much less write an entire novel about teenagers who are struggling…
I’m humbled by the warm welcome I received at three high schools I visited in Vermont at the beginning of this month. It’s not easy to stand in front of a group of real teenagers and talk about the difficult subject matter of All We Left Behind. Sex, intimacy, shame, and secrets are among the…
Two weeks ago I shared Lynne Twist’s quote about feeling like enough is never enough. I threw energy out into the universe, and in that mysterious way the universe works, it sent something back to me. Last week a wonderful article by Jamie Varon fell into my lap. It asked me to forgive myself for the shame…
“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is ‘I didn’t get enough sleep.’ The next one is ‘I don’t have enough time.’ Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of…
All We Left Behind is a love story about two teenagers who don’t want to share their secrets, only to discover that true intimacy requires vulnerability and facing their shame. Silence is a strong theme in the novel and at my book launch I talked a lot about the power silence can have over us. Silence…
Two articles really hit a nerve with me this week. They’re completely different, and yet they both tango with the subject of failure and feeling alone in this big noisy world. They’re worth your time. I’m Broken. Do you ever feel like you’re alone? So. Damn. Alone. We’re surrounded by people, and yet the broken pieces of…
I absolutely love this quote from Leonie Dawson: The full quote: “A reminder! IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO WONDER IF YOU’RE GOOD ENOUGH. It’s not your job to wonder if you’re ready. It’s not your job to look at other people and compare yourself to them. Your job is to do the thing that lights…