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This isn’t the primary time Lindsay Hameroff thought-about writing a character with autism. Hameroff has two youngsters on the spectrum, and he or she was halfway by way of her first guide when her youngest was identified. She considered how she may embrace a facet character with autism, mapping out the place he may slot into the story, earlier than realizing it wasn’t the best match. “[My review group] instructed me, ‘You don’t need to take that chance and make it really feel tokenized,’” she tells SheKnows.
So, Hameroff waited till the time was proper — and now, she says she’s glad she did. In Rewrite the Stars, out July 7, Marissa Morgan is a divorced Hollywood starlet and mother to 2 children, certainly one of whom has autism. When Marissa’s well-known ex-husband will get again along with his well-known first spouse (sure, the Ben-Jen-Jen love triangle was the inspiration), she decamps to the Pocono Mountains along with her children, craving an escape from the media circus.
The novel facilities on the candy romance between Marissa and Jesse, the childhood friend-turned-carpenter engaged on her home, however Marissa’s function as a mother is what units the whole lot in movement. As her ex reunites together with his previous flame and the paparazzi swarm Marissa’s home, “she may be very wired concerning the affect it’s going to have on her youngsters,” Hameroff explains. That anxiousness is what prompts her to go away Hollywood for Pennsylvania. “What units the novel into movement,” Hameroff says, “is a call she makes for the welfare of her children.”
It was Hameroff’s first time writing from the attitude of a mom, however she says it felt pure. Writing Levi, Marissa’s autistic youngster, although, got here with some nerves. “The illustration must really feel proper,” she remembers pondering. “It must really feel genuine.”
Rewrite the Stars: A Novel
Hameroff drew closely from her personal parenting expertise. She additionally acquired inspiration from bestselling writer Kennedy Ryan, whose novel This Could Be Us features a character whose son has autism. Hameroff picked Ryan’s mind about writing a neurodivergent caregiver and “she form of gave me the arrogance to go for it,” Hameroff says. However Ryan additionally suggested her that “individuals are very delicate about sure facets of autism,” Hameroff remembers. “So, I used to be very nervous about it.”
There are various facets that really feel true to life about Levi’s character — as a result of they’re. Hameroff’s son, for instance, as soon as went by way of a part of solely consuming miniature Eggo waffles, a element Hameroff borrowed for Levi. “Autism is a spectrum,” Hameroff notes. “It’s going to be totally different for everyone, however that is one snapshot of 1 lived expertise.”
Different particulars are pulled from actual life, too. When Marissa talks about Levi’s analysis with different dad and mom, their responses echoed actual conversations Hameroff had. “Folks meant properly, however they mentioned issues that felt like a intestine punch,” Hameroff recalled, like, “‘That is each father or mother’s nightmare. We’re so sorry that is taking place to you.’”
The true-to-life particulars and feelings made Rewrite the Stars probably the most troublesome guide Hameroff has written. Some days, she says, engaged on the guide felt like pulling tooth as a result of it was so near to her coronary heart. The stress of illustration was additionally heavy. “Scripting this guide was very therapeutic,” Hameroff says, “however on the similar time, figuring out that I used to be writing about one thing that individuals had been going to narrate to — being a single mother, a divorced mom, and a caregiver for youngsters and youngsters on the spectrum — I felt a duty to essentially get it proper.”
The early reviews are trending in that course. “The suggestions I’ve gotten concerning the illustration and parenting has been, ‘I really feel seen, and I relate to this,’” Hameroff says, “and that’s precisely what my objective was for this guide. I needed to write down a love letter to different mothers.”
