 When I think about my mom, try to include all of it. Certainly, my writing process for me is an extension of the grieving process. I write to help find my way through this forest with no trails that grief can be. But in doing so, I try not to let go of the fact that my mom was one of the happiest people I've ever known and enjoyed life and would have wanted a character like Mariel to enjoy her life too, whatever losses and whatever fate that character might encounter.