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How the journey started
How the journey started
November 2010
November 2010
Back in 2010, a few months after my mother had died, I quit my job of nearly 25 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where I was a features staff writer.
The essay I wrote about that time, that sudden change of how I identified, caught the attention of a writing group, the PlayPen Writers Group. Without a newsroom, the monthly gathering of women who wrote essays, fiction and more served as a welcome forum to exchange ideas. It was there that I first learned about NaNoWriMo – the National Novel Writing Month. (This was well before the recent controversies that have tainted and shuttered NaNoWriMo.) The goal was to spend a month writing a first draft of an entire novel. For some reason, the month was November, already busy with Thanksgiving.
Still, I like a challenge. It was a stretch where much of my time was being spent on cleaning out the condo of my pack-rat parents. Seemingly trivial items—a mortar and pestle, a fancy dress, a set of Nancy Drews – evoked vivid memories. I was struck by what I remembered. Was it accurate? Or was it lacquered in nostalgia?
It served as a seed for an idea—for a novel. I wrote 25,000 words that November. I wanted to explore how those remembered memories serve as a connection to the past, a way to make amends perhaps for fraught relationships or at least understand that relationship better.
I worked on my novel off and on for the next seven (!) years, often at a coffee shop with a fellow writer working on her own novel. Then I spent another five or so years looking for an agent or publisher. Lucky for me, I met Tara Tomczyk, publisher and editor at Blydyn Square Books, at Rosemont College, which was hosting on its campus the wonderful “Push to Publish” that Philadelphia Stories runs.
Blydyn signed me Aug. 17, 2021. The next three years were spent revising. Early this year, my manuscript was finally green lighted. Then it was a frantic rush to copy edit, come up with the back of book copy, and review the cover design—all with the goal of a Spring 2026 launch.
As 2025 comes to an end, I’m waiting for the final cover and pinching myself that I’ll actually be a published author after all these years. Spring can’t com
My first book
My first book
Leftovers After Life is out May 29, 2026. I got a few advance copies. I'm beyond excited. There's nothing quite like touching the physical book and holding it in your hands.
Leftovers After Life is out May 29, 2026. I got a few advance copies. I'm beyond excited. There's nothing quite like touching the physical book and holding it in your hands.
What would you do if your mother's last word to you before she died was "Bitch"? Here's a sneak peek of how Neena, my main character, responds to that gut punch: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/30hb6egl9a
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (SPOILER ALERT):
Consider Leftovers After Life for your next book club read. Here are some questions to get the discussion started.
General Discussion Questions
The novel opens with Neena’s mother’s disturbing final words. How did those words shape your reading of the rest of the story?
The title Leftovers After Life refers not only to physical possessions but also to emotional residue. What “leftovers” do the characters carry with them?
Did your understanding of Neena’s mother change over the course of the novel? Why or why not?
The story moves between past and present through memories attached to objects. Which object or memory thread affected you most strongly?
What role does silence play in the novel? What things remain unsaid between family members?
The novel repeatedly asks whether we can ever truly know our parents as full people. Do you think Neena ultimately comes to understand hers?
Questions About Family & Motherhood
Neena spends much of the novel wondering whether her mother truly loved her. Do you believe her mother loved her? In what ways was that love expressed—or withheld?
What pressures do immigrant parents and children place on each other in the novel?
The novel suggests that praise, criticism, and emotional restraint can echo across generations. Did you see cycles repeating between Neena, her mother, and Tara? How about between the way Neena's parents interacted with each other and the way Neena interacts with Jay?
What did you think about the tension between preserving family history and moving on from it?
Questions About Identity & Belonging
The “coffee-tea” scene is one of the novel’s most memorable childhood moments. What does it reveal about Neena’s early understanding of cultural difference?
How does Neena’s childhood experience of feeling “different” shape her adult personality?
How does the novel portray assimilation—not just as a social process, but as an emotional one?
Which characters seem most comfortable with who they are, and which seem trapped between identities or expectations?
Questions About Secrets & Revelation
The novel slowly uncovers family secrets through letters, documents, and forgotten keepsakes. How effective was this mystery-like structure?
How did Jay's revelation about his parents' death change your view of him? How did it change Neena's understanding of his reaction to her obession with the items in the condo?
How did you react to the revelation about Nithin? Did it change your interpretation of Neena’s parents and their marriage?
Do you think keeping painful secrets protects families or damages them?
The novel often blurs the line between what happened and what Neena believes happened. How reliable is memory in this story?
Symbolism & Literary Themes
Why do you think the author places such emphasis on ordinary household objects?
The dress appears repeatedly throughout the novel. What does it symbolize for Neena and for her mother?
How does the condo function symbolically and as a character in the story and how does Neena's relationship with the condo change over time?
Neena notes that “It wasn’t any easier grieving the parent who loved you than the parent who hated you.” What do you think she means by that?
Discuss the idea expressed in the novel that “Other people’s memories are who you remain long after you’re gone.” Do you agree?
Personal Reflection Questions
Did the novel make you think differently about your own family keepsakes or inherited objects?
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