Hi, Reader!

ICYMI, I made a BIG LIFE CHANGE in early April. After writing five novels with a full-time job at Men’s Health, I decided to leave my day job and wholly dedicate myself to my career as an author. You can read more about it here:

The week after my (very emotional!) last day at Men’s Health, I booked a spontaneous trip to Amsterdam—not just to celebrate, but to research an idea for a WW2 historical novel I’ve wanted to explore for years.

You probably know I’m a history nerd, so I thought I’d share some fascinating things I learned at the Verzetsmuseum, or the Dutch Resistance Museum, which explores how people in the Netherlands resisted the Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1945.

During the occupation, Dutch resisters hid illegal radios inside innocuous objects like books, tin boxes, and matchboxes.

They also used hollowed-out books to conceal weapons—a detail I may or may not have included in my next historical YA novel, THE REBEL GIRLS OF ROME.

Another hiding spot for illicit materials? Maternity corsets—especially since women were often overlooked as potential resistance fighters. Here, you can see one stuffed with ration coupons:

Hopefully, I’ll get to share a WW2 Amsterdam book with you someday! I just have to write it first—but thankfully, I now have all the writing time in the world.

Join me (virtually) at the Newburyport Literary Festival!

On Sunday, April 28 at 2:15 p.m. EST, I’ll be speaking on an online author panel—Relationships & Revenge in YA Mystery—alongside Cynthia Leitich Smith and E. A. Neeves. You can register for the event here!

Check out my books:

• THE PAPER GIRL OF PARIS

• DON’T BREATHE A WORD

• THE REVENGE GAME

Have a question you want me to answer in a future email?

Let me know here.