Hi, Cynthia! It’s been a few years since your last blog appearance on Fresh Fiction—welcome back! Thanks for having me! At the beginning of FACING THE DAWN, your lead character, Mara, is feeling burnt out. Her husband is halfway across the world, her job is demanding and unfulfilling, and her kids are trying every ounce of her patience. Do you think readers will relate to some of Mara’s early struggles? What do you hope people can learn from Mara?  I believe a lot of readers will relate to at least some of what Mara is going through early in the book. Most of us experience a season or, for some, even seemingly a lifetime of unmet expectations and challenges, struggles that appear insurmountable, concerns that occupy too much of our time and energy, or even just mundane disappointments that keep life from looking like we thought it would. My hope is that readers will accompany Mara on her journey and identify with what loss and grief can do to us. What happens when we respond in unhealthy ways or resist the help we need? Where can we find glimmers of hope when we walk through a grief that just won’t go away?…

Most novelists walk through life collecting stories and scenes and breath-stealing words like black knit pants collect cat hair. We can’t walk through a room or a day without something landing and sticking. When I sat down to write ALL MY BELONGINGS, I drew heavily on those stick-forever moments. The main character in ALL MY BELONGINGS, Becca, is a selfless caregiver. Even when rebuffed, shamed, and unappreciated, she kept caring. As I wrote scenes of Becca’s patience and kindness toward a woman who couldn’t remember her cherished son and flitted seamlessly from reality to a non-existent ballet class, I realized I was writing Becca as the caregiver I wish I’d always been for my kids, my husband, my grandkids, my mother… Some of Becca’s actions seemed so familiar. Where did they originate? Long ago, I visited an elderly relative in a nursing home. When she motioned for the nurse to take her to the bathroom, I stepped into the hall, but couldn’t help overhearing the nurse talking low and sweetly to the woman. “Bernice, why don’t I get you a dry pair of panties? You’ll feel so much better.” Tenderness laced every word that came from the caregiver’s mouth. At…