Does my novel, "My Dead True Love," cherry-pick grief-journey moments? That might be one way to look at it.

The beauty of fiction is it allows you to shape facts to create a compelling read but without losing the integrity of the experience. One character - Connie the reluctant psychic, for example - may be a composite of several real people.

Fiction also allows me to bring YOU along on the journey, with all its highs and lows and nuances. I love it when people tell me, with a twinkle in their eye, "I wasn't expecting that ending."