I currently have no plans to continue A Queen’s Duet, the American Royals series, or The Thousandth Floor. This can always change, but for now I am happy with where those characters ended, and I’m busy working on other projects. My adult debut Ungodly Rich comes out in summer 2026, and I’m currently hard at work on the sequel!

I would love for there to a movie or TV show based on one of my books! My agents have a wonderful team in LA who are working hard to make it happen. If there’s ever any news, I’ll certainly share it on social media!

If you are looking to publish a book traditionally, as opposed to self-publishing, the first step is to find an agent. This is something I have no experience in as I did things a slightly different way—worked for an agency for four years, then finally showed them my writing! I am not the first aspiring author to work in book publishing; I found it helpful to learn how a book is published from the business side. But the more traditional path is to “query” agents, meaning that you send them a sample of your work in the hopes of signing with them. Querying can be a slow process, so try not to get discouraged if you don’t get replies right away.

‍

Once you have a complete draft of your novel, you should make a list of agents you would like to work with. Research books that are similar to yours in subject or tone and find out who those agents are. Then check with each agent on their website or social media to see what format they prefer for their pitch letters.

‍

There are some fantastic resources available for the querying stage. If your book is young adult, you should look into SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators). If you’re writing romance, RWA (Romance Writers of America) has similar resources focused on the romance market.

My first piece of advice is obvious, yet surprisingly challenging: read often and read widely. The more types of content that you read, the easier it is to access your own voice. Read what you love, of course—but push yourself to read outside your comfort zone, too. For me, this is when I dip into a thriller or take a volume of poetry off my bookcase. It never fails to help shake the words loose, no matter what plot tangle I’ve written myself into.

‍

Once you start writing, I would urge you to finish a first draft. Most writers (myself included!) find that the first chapters of a book are the easiest: you introduce the characters and the world, set the plot points in motion. The sticky middle is where things get tough. Try to push through and finish a draft, even a draft that requires huge amounts of rewriting. It’s so much easier to edit something once it already exists. Plus, you’ll have the boost of confidence that comes from knowing you can write a whole book, start to finish.

My research tends to focus on worldbuilding and setting detail: for the Thousandth Floor books, I read scientific magazines in order to imagine a futuristic city; for American Royals, I visited royal palaces and the Mount Vernon estate, and devoured as many royal biographies and memoirs as I could. A Queen’s Game has been the most research-heavy of my projects since it is based on true events, with characters who are real historical figures. I made an effort to read biographies that included primary source documents like letters (especially love letters!) so that I could get a sense for the characters’ voices. I also read a number memoirs written by other young women at that time period, in order to set the scene historically.

‍

At a certain point, though, I have to stop researching and start writing. It would be dangerously easy to disappear into a black hole of research and never actually get around to the book itself!

I have always wanted to be a writer. Back in elementary school, I filled notebooks full of handwritten stories (my first series was about a family of mice that lived on our school playground!) I studied English in college and then got a job working in book publishing as an assistant agent. After several years on that side of things, I decided to take the leap and try writing a novel of my own.