You’re watching an 80’s movie. A new wave soundtrack carries you through the supernatural madness of Sadie’s seventeenth summer. A ghost, a multidimensional witch, and a demon are quite the trio spinning Sadie’s universe out of control. Can she fight off her own demons to save her sister’s soul?

When I was 15, I sat on my bed during February break and wished to be a writer. Then came the thought, “Why can’t I be one right now?” I wanted to write something I wanted to read (I think I was in a reading rut at the time). All I remember from that time was my characters were real. They were in my head, haunting me, urging me along in the gentle way lifelong friends do so their story would be written. The plot and the characters’ names changed (Sadie’s name was originally Jordan, and she didn’t have a twin yet), but the hearts and souls of Sadie (the main character), Tristan (the ghost), Rella (the witch), and Chad (the demon) have been true this whole time.

Over the years, I basically abandoned their story (I know, I know, the biggest “cringe” of being a writer) even when the characters nagged me. I was busy. Going to college full time and working full time doesn’t leave much wiggle room. Writing, unfortunately, was not my first priority.

At 20, I began a very dark period in my life. One of my best friends passed away, and that kind of loss when you’re young is very difficult to come back from. I turned to writing to grieve. I truly believe he was the catalyst I needed to find myself again, and I will always be grateful for knowing him. You can find some of that inspiration in Tristan. Even at 15, I knew Tristan was a ghost. Sometimes I’ve wondered in retrospect if my soul knew I would lose my best friend young, which is an eerie thought, but within the realm of my spiritual beliefs.

When I began writing again, I completely deleted everything I had and started from scratch. My writing had been previously immature. With college, it grew better and better, but I was still unsure about my voice and the genre. As I graduated from my Master’s Degree program in Literacy, I finally perfected my voice (and edited everything over) and knew in my heart the novel was meant to be young adult fiction.

It evolved beautifully as I thought about all the things that made me happy growing up. Love Isn’t Always on Time is essentially a love letter to my childhood. It’s me saying a heartfelt goodbye to not only my best friend, but my young self who deserved more compassion from me as my self-esteem could have been a lot stronger than it was.

My mom was a teenager in the 80’s, and I grew up with her favorite music and movies. Naturally, the 80’s will always have a special place in my heart as the pop culture of the decade is lovingly tangled with my childhood nostalgia. The novel is a shorter novel to read fast as though you’re actually watching a movie in book form. Band references are sprinkled throughout resembling a movie soundtrack, and the ending is not something you would typically see in a story today.

I originally wanted to put it up for sale last weekend, but anyone working on a big project knows that it always takes longer than expected. Even though Love Isn’t Always on Time is completely finished and edited, my research into Amazon publishing through CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing (and other alternatives) has taken me longer than I wanted. And, daily life has gotten in the way. If Love Isn’t Always on Time is not up by this weekend, it should be up soon. I hope you all love it! 😊