In June 2017, a month after graduating college, I had a breakfast conversation at Cracker Barrel that changed my life. I was talking with my mom about a manuscript I’d written–and started submitting to agents–called DEPOSING NATHAN.

My parents have always been the two strongest champions of my writing. When I finished my first manuscript in high school, I came home to find a handbook on my bed titled YOU ARE A WRITER, with a sticky note on it that said, “Congrats on finishing your book! Can’t...