Goodreads asked Kate Ryan:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Kate Ryan With so many fantastic books on the market, I still think there's a void for women in their late 30s/40s. A while back I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook and I came across a video clip from a news channel... An interview with a woman about my age, married with kids, telling her story of alcoholism for her entire community (and beyond) to see. She shared her lowest points & deepest shame, but also how she was working to rebuild her life and live in recovery. I thought ... "How incredibly BRAVE and HELPFUL to others who might be in a similar situation." How many people suffer in silence, feel alone, paralyzed to make critical changes? How many addicts are seemingly "normal" with productive lives, careers, families? What lies behind the addiction - how did he or she get there? And when they choose to change their lives, what happens after treatment?

I set out to tell a story of addiction & recovery of a character in one novel, but it grew into a series based on decades/phases of Amanda's journey through life. I simply couldn't cover all that is Amanda in one book alone. My hope is that - facing addiction or not - readers see parts of themselves during Amanda's journey through these stages of her life.

Bad stuff can happen to ANYONE at ANYTIME - people just like you and me.

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