Rochelle B. Weinstein is the USA Today bestselling author of emotionally driven women’s fiction, including Somebody’s Daughter, Where We Fall, The Mourning After, and What We Leave Behind. Rochelle spent her early years in sunny South Florida, always with a book in hand, raised by the likes of Sidney Sheldon and Judy Blume. Upon graduating from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, Rochelle moved to Los Angeles, where she handled advertising and promotions for major film studios and record labels at LA Weekly. After returning to Miami, she continued her passion for entertainment as a music-industry executive at the Box Music Network. When she’s not writing, Rochelle loves to hike, read, and find the world’s best nachos. She is currently working on her sixth novel. Please visit her at rochelleweinstein.com.
Behind the Book with Rochelle Weinstein
Writers don’t always remember the impetus behind sitting down to write a book. By the time they’re asked this question they’re typically on their next manuscript and the recollection is distant and faded. If I dig deep inside my memory bank, I believe I initially wrote this book because of my readers. After What We Leave Behind released in 2012, fans and book clubs suggested I craft another love story. And with timely topics under my belt such as glycogen storage disease (human trials have begun), mental illness (we all see how the problem is rampant), and the dangers of digital over-sharing (now summer required reading for high schoolers), it was time to return to my favorite genre: a heartbreaking, emotional read of love, loss, and forgiveness.
I think I’ve always been a hopeless romantic. Love stories between complex characters speak to my soul because of their relatability—who hasn’t fallen in love, fallen apart, and questioned their choices? At times, the fictionalized “love story” falls victim to a host of criticisms. It’s not a mere light and fluffy mindless connection. In many cases, it’s deeply moving with some rare and beautiful lessons. As someone who is fascinated by human behavior, I’ve witnessed internal struggles, how upbringing and early loss affect our choices, and I’ve seen how pain and promises disappoint. Anyone reading my novels will uncover layers of depth and understanding, facets that ultimately influence our trajectory.
Over the years, I have stated in interviews, blogs, and social media that writers write what they know. Perhaps that’s why family members and friends have searched for pieces of me and themselves in my words. But what I think most authors will tell you is that their life experiences cultivate intense feelings and emotions and we infuse them in our stories to give them weight and depth and meaning. Writing this story, and the many before, I have tapped into those emotions so vividly, though they are never one experience or even one emotion. They are a collaboration twisted through fiction, and that’s how a manuscript comes to life: heartfelt and powerful.
