She writes women's fiction about the things that shape us - loss, identity, love that doesn't rescue but transforms. Her writing is deeply influenced by the immigrant experience, intergenerational pain, and the quiet work of rebuilding a life from the inside out.
She spent her teenage years in Canada - a country that became a second home and gave her a firsthand understanding of what it means to start over somewhere new. The friendships she built and the world she navigated there found their way into the trilogy.
Her characters are drawn from the people who shaped her life. The series is written in memory of her mother and her twin siblings, lost before birth. She now lives in Hungary with her husband, happily empty-nesting. Threads of Love and Loss is her debut trilogy.
Q.1 Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
A. I like spinach.
Q.2 Your novel, Abel and Maya, explores love, loss, identity, and belonging. What inspired you to write this story?
A. Around the time my mother got sick, I started to wonder why we, as a family, never spoke about her losing my twin siblings five months into her pregnancy. I was eight years old then and didn’t understand a lot. I knew she saw a “doctor” afterwards, who I later learned was a therapist.
After my mom passed away, I couldn’t get my siblings out of my head. I wanted them to be part of our family, remembered. At the same time, Abel, Maya, and Scott started to become characters in my mind, and I thought maybe I was partly reliving a life that could have been had I stayed in Canada.
Q.1 Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
A. I like spinach.
Q.2 Your novel, Abel and Maya, explores love, loss, identity, and belonging. What inspired you to write this story?
A. Around the time my mother got sick, I started to wonder why we, as a family, never spoke about her losing my twin siblings five months into her pregnancy. I was eight years old then and didn’t understand a lot. I knew she saw a “doctor” afterwards, who I later learned was a therapist.
After my mom passed away, I couldn’t get my siblings out of my head. I wanted them to be part of our family, remembered. At the same time, Abel, Maya, and Scott started to become characters in my mind, and I thought maybe I was partly reliving a life that could have been had I stayed in Canada.
Sort of an alternative life. But Maya wanted to become her own person, and so she did. It’s amazing how they write themselves, perhaps from the unconscious.
Q.3 Abel and Maya is the first instalment of a trilogy. Without revealing major spoilers, can you share what readers can look forward to in the next books?
A. Scott gets a bigger role, as many readers have already guessed. Abel and Maya stay in each other’s lives, mainly because of Zoe—the thread between them. She is Abel’s niece, but Maya won’t give her up.
Zoe and Maya have had a special connection from the start. I adore Zoe myself. She is my favourite character: the big-mouthed little girl with the big personality, who always voices her honest opinions, sometimes to the horror of Abel’s family. The will-they-won’t-they has to stay hidden for now. I’ll keep it a secret!
Q.4 Maya is an orphan and an immigrant navigating life far from her Polish roots, while Abel carries emotional wounds of his own. What drew you to these characters, and what did you want to explore through their contrasting backgrounds?
A. Maya began her life as my alternative self, one who never returned to Hungary but stayed in Canada. I changed some details. She isn’t Hungarian; she’s Polish. The two are very close in mentality, politics, religion, and even traditions. I also changed her childhood trauma from my own to orphanhood, as the book wasn’t going to be about my own wounds.
Q.4 Maya is an orphan and an immigrant navigating life far from her Polish roots, while Abel carries emotional wounds of his own. What drew you to these characters, and what did you want to explore through their contrasting backgrounds?
A. Maya began her life as my alternative self, one who never returned to Hungary but stayed in Canada. I changed some details. She isn’t Hungarian; she’s Polish. The two are very close in mentality, politics, religion, and even traditions. I also changed her childhood trauma from my own to orphanhood, as the book wasn’t going to be about my own wounds.
But a parent’s death is still a form of abandonment in a child’s mind, with much the same effects as other wounds of that kind. Her name is a popular Polish one, but I discovered along the way that it means “illusion” in Sanskrit. I find that very interesting, as it reflects her dreamy nature and secretive personality.
As for Abel—that was a tougher one. I knew I wanted a medical family and someone with mixed heritage. I knew from a friend that some Indian families are very demanding, so I started his heritage there, then added British roots and a Lebanese Catholic side to match Maya’s religion. I was a bit anxious about him being a visible minority, as they’re called in Canada, so I made a point of choosing an editor from India to do a sensitivity read.
Q.5 Both Abel and Maya have childhood experiences that influence their adult relationships. How did you approach writing these emotional complexities without reducing your characters to their past experiences?
A. I wrote after playing scenes out in my head, mostly at night as I was getting ready to fall asleep. Then, of course, it kept me up. Or I would fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night and frantically jot down notes. I usually wrote the scenes in the morning, sometimes as early as 3 a.m.
As for Abel—that was a tougher one. I knew I wanted a medical family and someone with mixed heritage. I knew from a friend that some Indian families are very demanding, so I started his heritage there, then added British roots and a Lebanese Catholic side to match Maya’s religion. I was a bit anxious about him being a visible minority, as they’re called in Canada, so I made a point of choosing an editor from India to do a sensitivity read.
Q.5 Both Abel and Maya have childhood experiences that influence their adult relationships. How did you approach writing these emotional complexities without reducing your characters to their past experiences?
A. I wrote after playing scenes out in my head, mostly at night as I was getting ready to fall asleep. Then, of course, it kept me up. Or I would fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night and frantically jot down notes. I usually wrote the scenes in the morning, sometimes as early as 3 a.m.
Sometimes I researched the psychological effects of things like miscommunicated grief, but I mostly went by instinct. I also listened to each and every ARC reader’s opinions and thought about each of them. Sometimes I made changes—when they resonated with me.
I very much wanted my characters to have full lives. I wanted to avoid writing unrealistic characters: billionaires at twenty, or people who don’t have mundane problems and lives. My hope is that I succeeded in that.
The hardest part was having Abel’s education and residency reflect the Canadian system. I had to research every year, every step he had to take. I think I could do a Bentall procedure now—I know so much about heart surgery!
Q.6 Romance is often portrayed as a force that overcomes every obstacle. Your novel takes a more nuanced approach, exploring how love can coexist with misunderstandings and conflicting ambitions. What drew you to this more realistic portrayal of relationships?
A. My own experience, my friends’ experience, twenty-five years of marriage. I think it says it all: there are no magic cures. Could Abel have been more straightforward in expressing his feelings, his love, his grief? I’m not sure. He tried, felt as though he’d failed, and that made him even more cautious. He acted, he moved, he worked, touched and hugged, but Maya needed words.
And Maya is needy; there is no way around it. She wanted him to solve her problems, always waiting for him to decide and then complaining. They were in love, they did their best, and they failed. But the trilogy isn’t finished, and they might learn a few things about themselves.
As for what drew me to realistic portrayal: I wanted people to feel that they are not alone in their problems. Be it difficulty expressing oneself, or insecurity, or unexpressed heartache and pain, I wanted the reader to feel as though the characters’ problems are very much like their own. To reflect on them, and maybe see that the change they want Abel or Maya to make is the change they themselves may need to make.
Q.7 Were there particular questions about intimacy, compromise, or emotional responsibility that you wanted readers to consider while reading the book?
A. Yes. As for intimacy, my own Catholic background—and what we call Catholic guilt, which makes intimacy very complicated—was something I wanted to explore. Guilt and shame cast a shadow over a beautiful experience, turning lovemaking into control or silence.
As for what drew me to realistic portrayal: I wanted people to feel that they are not alone in their problems. Be it difficulty expressing oneself, or insecurity, or unexpressed heartache and pain, I wanted the reader to feel as though the characters’ problems are very much like their own. To reflect on them, and maybe see that the change they want Abel or Maya to make is the change they themselves may need to make.
Q.7 Were there particular questions about intimacy, compromise, or emotional responsibility that you wanted readers to consider while reading the book?
A. Yes. As for intimacy, my own Catholic background—and what we call Catholic guilt, which makes intimacy very complicated—was something I wanted to explore. Guilt and shame cast a shadow over a beautiful experience, turning lovemaking into control or silence.
In this case, the silence is Maya’s and not Abel’s. One of the rare times the tables are turned. She never talked to him, and he never talked to her, about why neither of them felt complete, all the while burning for each other and burning each other out.
As for responsibility, again, it’s mostly Maya who doesn’t know how to take it. She expects Abel to solve things, and she doesn’t take matters into her own hands until it’s too late. But at one point she does realise she has to rebuild, and that the new life has to be one where she is in charge.
Q.8 The Threads of Love and Loss trilogy is dedicated to the memory of your mother and twin siblings, whom you lost before birth. If you feel comfortable sharing, how has writing this series helped you engage with memory, grief, and the different ways people carry loss?
A. Yes. It was therapeutic. Both my parents have passed away now, and four of my mother’s siblings have passed away in the last three years. Only one of her sisters is still alive. It all happened in a very short span of time. I had to face grief, and writing about it helped enormously. As for memory, my little brother and my little sister are remembered now, and it makes me smile every time I think about them.
Q.9 Were there any scenes or plot twists that changed significantly from your original plan?
A. Yes. But I can’t tell which ones…
Q.10 Which character surprised you the most while writing the book and why?
A. Ashley. She managed to push herself into the spotlight and write her own story. She will have a bigger role in the second book. I can tell you that she will meet a boy.
Q.11 If you could describe your book in three words, what would they be and why?
A. Love, passion, loss.
Q.12 How did you decide the name of your characters?
A. About Maya, I already told you. Abel was a funny story. My nineteen-year-old likes rap or trap music, one or the other or both; I’m not sure. He was telling me about Toronto musicians, and one of them had a funny name - The Weeknd. I asked him what his real name was. It was Abel, and I loved that name. So that is how my Abel became Abel.
Q.13 When did you first discover your passion for storytelling?
A. At grammar school in Hungary. I had difficulty with maths because—as I know now—I have dyscalculia. But literature and writing had always been kind of easy for me. I love words, just like Maya.
Q.14 What does a typical writing day look like for you?
A. I don’t know if there is a typical day for me. When I was writing the first book, it sometimes felt like I had a fever. I had to take notes and get it all down fast, and then of course I had to edit the scenes again and again. And all over again when my editors asked me to tidy up some parts, make them shorter or longer.
As for responsibility, again, it’s mostly Maya who doesn’t know how to take it. She expects Abel to solve things, and she doesn’t take matters into her own hands until it’s too late. But at one point she does realise she has to rebuild, and that the new life has to be one where she is in charge.
Q.8 The Threads of Love and Loss trilogy is dedicated to the memory of your mother and twin siblings, whom you lost before birth. If you feel comfortable sharing, how has writing this series helped you engage with memory, grief, and the different ways people carry loss?
A. Yes. It was therapeutic. Both my parents have passed away now, and four of my mother’s siblings have passed away in the last three years. Only one of her sisters is still alive. It all happened in a very short span of time. I had to face grief, and writing about it helped enormously. As for memory, my little brother and my little sister are remembered now, and it makes me smile every time I think about them.
Q.9 Were there any scenes or plot twists that changed significantly from your original plan?
A. Yes. But I can’t tell which ones…
Q.10 Which character surprised you the most while writing the book and why?
A. Ashley. She managed to push herself into the spotlight and write her own story. She will have a bigger role in the second book. I can tell you that she will meet a boy.
Q.11 If you could describe your book in three words, what would they be and why?
A. Love, passion, loss.
Q.12 How did you decide the name of your characters?
A. About Maya, I already told you. Abel was a funny story. My nineteen-year-old likes rap or trap music, one or the other or both; I’m not sure. He was telling me about Toronto musicians, and one of them had a funny name - The Weeknd. I asked him what his real name was. It was Abel, and I loved that name. So that is how my Abel became Abel.
Q.13 When did you first discover your passion for storytelling?
A. At grammar school in Hungary. I had difficulty with maths because—as I know now—I have dyscalculia. But literature and writing had always been kind of easy for me. I love words, just like Maya.
Q.14 What does a typical writing day look like for you?
A. I don’t know if there is a typical day for me. When I was writing the first book, it sometimes felt like I had a fever. I had to take notes and get it all down fast, and then of course I had to edit the scenes again and again. And all over again when my editors asked me to tidy up some parts, make them shorter or longer.
Now, the second book is coming along nicely. I have the plot worked out to the end of the trilogy. Maybe that’s what changed my mindset: I have the whole story figured out for the main characters, and the fun part is that the side characters are much easier to play with, story-wise.
When I write, it can be anything from one hour to eight. There is no typical day for me; it all depends on how I feel that day about writing, creating, and adding to the story.
Q.15 Which authors, books, or creators have influenced your work the most?
A. I never know how to answer this question. I have been reading books ever since I knew how to read. Which ones influenced me and which ones did not? Can a person even tell? Could it be that not liking something influences the way we express ourselves?
As in: let’s not do it like them. As an English Studies graduate, I did have to read books I enjoyed less, or not at all. So, I could make a long list of writers I like, even admire, but I’m not sure that all of them influenced how I work, or that any of them did.
Q.16 If you could sit down with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you ask them?
A. Conner. I would ask him to tell me what happened between Megan and Abel. He’s the character who sees Abel most clearly, even more so than Rita does.
Q.17 Do you believe in writer’s block? If yes, how do you deal with it?
A. When I was about 70 per cent done with the manuscript, I experienced serious doubts. I felt like I was opening up too much, like I was pouring my soul onto the page. I thought that I would never be ready to share it with the world. Friends helped me through this phase.
Q.16 If you could sit down with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you ask them?
A. Conner. I would ask him to tell me what happened between Megan and Abel. He’s the character who sees Abel most clearly, even more so than Rita does.
Q.17 Do you believe in writer’s block? If yes, how do you deal with it?
A. When I was about 70 per cent done with the manuscript, I experienced serious doubts. I felt like I was opening up too much, like I was pouring my soul onto the page. I thought that I would never be ready to share it with the world. Friends helped me through this phase.
What was particularly helpful was when one of them told me that the manuscript made her rethink parts of her life and think about her own childhood as well as her adult choices. It gave me the inspiration I needed to keep going, and I was able to complete the book.
I decided that if my book touched even one person, if it helped them in any way, it would already be worth finishing.
Q.18 What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
A. Reading, of course! But I enjoy cooking and baking for my family, discovering new recipes, and lately I started gardening, and I find it very relaxing.
Q.19 If readers could remember only one message from this book, what would you hope it would be?
A. Rebuild your life from scratch if you need to, and find yourself. Don’t let others decide your fate.
Q.20 Share the experience of your writing journey so far.
A. With the trilogy, it has been a ride. I had all the scenes written when I realised I had studied literature, but not writing. I researched, read books about writing, and then I decided to take a course at the very university my characters attended.
Q.18 What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
A. Reading, of course! But I enjoy cooking and baking for my family, discovering new recipes, and lately I started gardening, and I find it very relaxing.
Q.19 If readers could remember only one message from this book, what would you hope it would be?
A. Rebuild your life from scratch if you need to, and find yourself. Don’t let others decide your fate.
Q.20 Share the experience of your writing journey so far.
A. With the trilogy, it has been a ride. I had all the scenes written when I realised I had studied literature, but not writing. I researched, read books about writing, and then I decided to take a course at the very university my characters attended.
I took a Creative Writing course at U of T, and it made all the difference. I’m now part of a writers’ association for women’s fiction. I’m still learning, and I enjoy every minute of it.
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