Thrilling News!

I worked 911 dispatch for seventeen years. As I’m incredibly young, this might come as a shock to you. How could this be true? I know, I really have no idea.

Two and a half years ago, I left that job to become a full-time writer. It was a huge leap of faith, but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Obviously, while I was working 911, I couldn’t write about a dispatcher. Even though I write fiction, and I make everything up, it wouldn’t have reflected well on the agency I worked for. Any news outlet that wanted to talk about my book would link it back to that agency, and I didn’t want to lose my job.

But heck! When I stopped working and went full-time? All bets were off.

I could finally write the book of my heart.

And today I am able to announce to you that my very first thriller, Stolen Things, will be coming out in August 2019, from Dutton Books/Penguin. From today’s Publisher’s Marketplace’s announcement:

In Stolen Things, Laurie answers 911, and the voice on the other end is her sixteen-year-old daughter. Jojo is in the dark, something really bad has happened, and her mother must find her. (And that’s just the beginning!)

I AM SO EXCITED! My new editor, Stephanie Kelly, is the absolute tops, and I’m already loving working with her. She really gets every single thing I was trying to do with this book, and she’s helping me make it my best book so far.

And I could never have done this without my beloved agent, Susanna Einstein, who took this book through endless iterations, each time getting me to up the tension and pacing (because I like too many slow, sweet moments to be appropriate for a thriller).

I can’t wait for y’all to read this. Feeling so happy and grateful.