The older I get, the more I understand social anxiety. Before, I chalked it up to me just simply being a wallflower, because I didn't know that anxiety was a real thing that so many people struggle with daily.

I never liked public speaking and died every single time I had to give a presentation in school. I actually skipped out on my German presentation in college because my nerves were too much. Side note: in the Facebook Live video I'm in the foreground and I'm displaying all signs of nervousness - playing with my hair, fidgeting, crossing and uncrossing my legs, etc.

I wrote Listen as therapy for me and to relate to others out there who have anxiety. I learned it was okay to have it and I know that I will always have it.

My main character completely loses it - has a breakdown - because of the stresses of her childhood. Her parents discover she a music prodigy and exploit her talents for their own benefit. She is pushed and pushed until she's at a ledge and falls.

I thought I was going to have a hard time writing about anxiety and how encompassing it is, but it was actually therapeutic for me.

Of course it's a love story and my character wins the girl in the end, but she also learns it's okay to be the person she wants to be - not what's expected of her.

This book is dedicated to several readers for several reasons. It's for the readers who suffer from anxiety. It's for the readers who played instruments when they were kids and the big dreams they had until life got in the way. It's for the dreamers. It's for everybody who wants that happy ending.

This book is personal to me. Yes, all of my books are, but there is a lot of me in this particular one. This book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions and ups and downs. This book is straight from my heart to yours. This book is dedicated to you.