What do you hope readers take away from The Silence Between Us?

I hope readers understand that just because someone’s world may look a little different from their own it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Just because someone may have a “disability” doesn’t mean that someone needs to be pitied or ridiculed. Everyone is capable of reaching their own goals, even if it’s not what you may have imagined for yourself.

Tell us more about your main characters Maya and Beau.

Maya was a personal favorite of mine to write; she says what she’s thinking, she’s not afraid to call people out on their biases, and she’s far more confident in herself than I was in high school.

Beau is a little more reserved and self-conscious about how he is seen by the rest of the world. He tries to always appear as if he has everything together, but really, he’s just as uncertain of the future and what he wants to do as every teenager is.

Do you feel like your characters are your friends or extensions of yourself? Which character do you feel resembles you the most? Which character do you wish you were more like?

Sometimes I catch a few similarities between myself and my characters, but I think every author can say that. I feel Maya resembles part of myself the most because we both have hearing loss and struggled in school because of it, but she’s much more self-assured and unafraid to speak her mind. I wish I could say the same!

The friendship between Maya and Nina and Maya and Melissa is a major theme in this story. How is Maya’s connection different with Nina than it is with Melissa? What makes each of their friendships unique? Are there any real-life or fictional relationships that have inspired these friendships?

The major difference between Maya’s friendship with Nina and her friendship with Melissa is of course that Melissa is Deaf—like Maya—and Nina isn’t. Despite how understanding Nina is of this and how much she likes Maya, that’s something Nina can never relate to in the way that Melissa can. Maya and Melissa belong to the same community and share the same language and culture, whereas Nina is just starting to experience that for the first time. Maya’s friendship with Nina is unique in that they are beginning to bridge the gap between the Deaf and hearing worlds, and I think knowledge of both is very important.

Your debut novel, In 27 Days, is quite different from The Silence Between Us. How was the experience of writing The Silence Between Us different from writing In 27 Days?