Between These Walls blog tour coming soon! I'll release details down the road.

In the meantime, here's an interview with Brandi at Breathes Books. Thanks for welcoming me (and the new novel) to your blog!

Today's Playlist: Storyline by Hunter Hayes

Interview with Brandi at Breathes Books

The Twitter version: tell us about your book in 140 characters or less.

Hunter is a secretly gay Christian. He develops feelings for Gabe and drops his guard. Now Hunter must reconcile faith, fear and identity.

How did you get the idea for the story?

A few years ago, I caught a television news story about a high school student who had endured an onslaught of bullying because he was gay. He was on the verge of suicide—tired, desperate, filled with pain. The news story centered around a video the student had posted online. In the video, the only way he could express his hurt was to page through words he’d written in black marker on sheets of paper. Here sat a kid who looked like an average high school freshman, wiping tears from his eyes, seeking someone to hear his cry for help.

My heart broke for that kid. I’ll never forget the sight of him. I thought to myself, “Nobody that age should know what it’s like to feel that kind of pain.” By that point, a high-level concept for Between These Walls already resided in the back of my mind, but the heartbreak I felt for that kid was my catalyst for action. That evening, I resolved to pursue Between These Walls.

Which character would you most/least like to have dinner with?

By the time I finished the novel, I felt as though I’d had a year’s worth of dinners with Hunter Carlisle, my main character. I appreciate people who are honest about their vulnerabilities, and my protagonists are honest and unguarded with me as I tell their stories.

I’d least like to have dinner with Tom, a high school student who initiates a humiliating bullying episode in Chapter 22.