Sometimes, life just has a way of happening and it isn’t always pleasant. I remember driving with my kids to a store one morning and getting a call from my sister that a friend of ours’ teen had died the night before - all I could do was weep at the very thought of it. Later we discovered that our friend’s child had been struggling with depression; we had no clue. As not only a mother, but just a human being who had missed someones desperate need for help, I felt lost. This led to a story forming in my mind that had to be written more than any other I’d ever written. I tell you this so that you understand my mindset when I wrote Wash Me Away. It was not their child’s exact story, but one I hoped would speak to people perhaps just like him or people who knew someone like him.

I poured a lot of time, energy, and research into learning more about depression and the types of events that lead to it. That is when Addison Buckley was born in my mind. Addy is forced into a new surrounding because of drastic choices and meets other teens dealing with issues in their home life. When conceiving the story I tried to think of something that terrified me. Something that I know is a trigger for depression that many young girls are unfortunately faced with. Incest, sexual abuse, suicide, abandonment, divorce, death, secrets, adoption, all of these are issues teens are facing today, either themselves or someone they know. I wanted to talk about these issues in a way that was real and relatable.

If you know someone dealing with depression, please share this book with them. It doesn’t have a picture perfect ending, but focuses on the fact that life is full of choices and you can choose happiness in the smallest of moments in life, to carry on and embrace the wonder of the world.