Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in a very small town before the internet became a common thing. There were no busy streets or nearby neighbors. My siblings were too old to want to play with the baby of the family. Our house was surrounded by trees and wildlife. This led to the perfect environment to exercise my imagination. I spent most of my childhood coming up with imaginary worlds and thinking up stories to occupy myself during those boring summers. With all that time alone, I started focusing on details from early on— details of the stories I made, or details of the stories I read over and over. There is a heavy sense of seclusion when I think back on that time and that might be why my stories focus so much on introspection and human connection.
Describe your desk
The desk where I write is a scene of various chaos. At any given point there is a stack of post-it notes, index cards, pens, journals, and a cat who is stretched out the entire length of the desk. If there was ever order to the stack of notes, the cat made sure to remove it and send everything into disarray. But I can't get mad at that floof, and, usually, end up working with my computer in my lap so I don't disturb him. But the mess isn't entirely blamed on the cat— my brain loves to come up with plot lines and pieces of dialogue but refuses to remember them. There's a cork board, a white board, and a massive clipboard hanging above, housing all the things I need to remember for whatever project I'm working on (or for future projects). I think my favorite part of my workspace​ is something every writer should have... the drawer filled with candy bars for when writer's block hits and you need some chocolate to help you contemplate.
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