Where the Sheena Meyer Series Began

It all started with a simple question: “What if angels talked to a girl?”

My husband said it casually, standing in front of the refrigerator, staring inside like he’d forgotten what he was looking for. You know the moment. We’ve all been there. We don't know what we want from the frig and just stand there looking. He closed the door, and I walked away thinking, A girl that can talk to angels? That’s a book!

I went straight upstairs to my office and started writing.

At the time, I didn’t know exactly what the story would become, but I knew I had to make a few important decisions first. Who was this girl? How old was she? And where would her story take place?

I decided she would be thirteen, the same age I was when I moved from New York to Michigan. And for the setting, the answer felt obvious. Muskegon, Michigan.

Muskegon sits right on Lake Michigan. It isn’t just a location. It’s home. It’s where I was born, where generations of my family are from, and where my brother and I spent summers growing up. Even after moving away as a toddler, it was always a part of me.

So I gave it to her.

Then came her name. Choosing a name for my character is never random for me. I always look up the meaning, because names carry weight. They shape identity. Sheena means “God is gracious” or “gift of God.”

But for me, the name means even more.

Sheena was also the name of my baby sister, who passed away from SIDS when I was about four years old. I didn't understand death back then. I just knew that one day she was there and the next she wasn't, and I missed her. That made the choice deeply personal. And from that moment on, this story wasn’t just something I was writing, it was something I was connected to.

As the story grew, so did the pieces of my own life within it. The home Sheena lives in is inspired by the one I lived in while in Muskegon.

The house on the right is the house I lived in. The house Dingy lives in in the series has become a park.

The school that Sheena and her friends attend is the same one I attended.

The hospital where she was born—the one where Mr. Tobias shows her the guardian angels—is the very hospital where I was born.

That hospital is no longer there. It’s now Charles Hackley Middle School. And what a beautiful building it is.

But in the Sheena Meyer universe, it's still Hackley Hospital.

Many of the places mentioned throughout the series are real. Mr. Tobias’s house is modeled after my grandmother’s home. Justin’s—or Ma’s—house is the one my aunt lived in just behind my grandmother.

Mr. Tobias's (my grandmother's) house.

But it wasn’t just the places that stayed with me in Muskegon. It was what I experienced there.

I had never felt cold like that before. The kind that doesn’t just hit your skin but settles into your bones. I remember the school, the hallways, the pep rallies… and what it felt like to stand in the middle of all of it and still feel different because I didn't dress, talk (my New York accent), or look like everyone else. Especially when that difference was pointed out.

There are moments from that time that never really left me. Moments that shaped how I saw myself, how I moved through the world, and how I understood belonging. I almost drowned in the school swimming pool. That experience didn’t disappear. It found its way into the story. I gave that moment to Ariel.

The creepiness of my grandmother’s basement? Yep, that went right into Mr. Tobias's house, and if you have read the series, you know what happened down there.

Sometimes the things we go through become part of what we create. Even the small, almost laughable things made it in. Yes, even the mice scene at Sheena's house really happened to me.

Somehow, the words came easier than I expected. Scene after scene, page after page. It felt like the story already existed and I was just catching up to it. Like it was meant to be told. I ended up writing the first three books all at once.

Yes, my hair was that long back then and I was still dying it.

What started as a single question grew into a world readers have stepped into, connected with, and carried with them. And maybe that’s the part I didn’t understand in the beginning.

This wasn’t just a story about a girl who could hear angels. It was about identity, purpose, morals, faith, and hope. It was about realizing that you’re not alone.

And sometimes, the very things you’ve gone through—the moments that shaped you, challenged you, or even hurt you—become the foundation for something greater than you ever imagined.

I have more stories coming. New books. New journeys. New characters who are still finding their way, just like Sheena Meyer.

I can't wait to share them with you.

Blessings,

LB