My first spiritual novel, Trusting the Currents, has just been published. It’s been a long journey, almost ten years, since an elderly, Southern, African American woman, Addie Mae Aubrey, first began whispering the story of her teenage years to me. Nothing has defined my life like the experience of bringing this book into the world. I was often a reluctant partner to Addie Mae’s insistence on sharing her memories and wisdom. I didn’t know why she chose me, a white woman from New York. No matter how many times I gave up, tried to return to a life that was easier, more conventional, she kept pushing me to continue for just a little bit longer, convincing me this was something important.