And her allergies fueled an old fear in her, related to the uncertainty of life, how things can change in an instant.

When I was a teenager, my brother passed away very suddenly from a car accident.

And we basically woke up to a world that no longer included him.

And to me, his death was so random and it was so arbitrary and so quick that I started to feel after that like the world was this very hostile place and that tragedy was random, death was random.

I thought I had sort of worked through that, but I really started to feel that way again.

So I just started to have this aversion to going outside or doing things.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I had to because we were leaving Canada.

There was no real explanation as to what could have triggered this for Allison, but she learned how to avoid flare-ups, and she carries an EpiPen for emergencies.

What are the types of things that people have said to you?

Um, you know, I, [sighs] I would say just a bunch of different things, but one of my favorite things to hear is that this book found me at the right time.

Um, that seems to be a particular response to this book.

Like, I d- I don't think I really got that with my other two books.

Um, it just seems like the kind of book that people really connect to when they need it, right?

Yeah.

Like, does the character feel, like, free and wonderful in this space? Or do they feel confined and closed off or shut down? And that, like, guides me through almost, like, every place that I put a character in because you already then you now just start thinking, "Okay, well, what's the hotel gonna do for Phoebe?"

And that was exactly where I had that note to talk about the connections and how we... interact with people that maybe don't know us and we don't know them and I and I think too you started to touch on it this idea of like I can also maybe tell them what I want and it's less scary

yeah and they give you the space to actually even maybe think about what you want right right you're with like a best friend or you know a husband or wife or whatever like you you're, you know, if you love them, you're always also thinking about what they want.

Right.

So that can cloud the issue when you're thinking about your own desires.

Right.

You sometimes think of what they want first instead of what you want.

Right.

you like talking to strangers and learn all