Before Your Time (Paperback or Softback)

Joel is a sixteen year old boy who is relatively happy with his life. He dreams of being a rockstar, but for the moment, he’s content to play at open mic nights and hang out with his friends. His relationship with his girlfriend is less than ideal, but whatever is going on with her will blow over eventually. And sometime soon he’ll probably be able to pull it together and control his overwhelming anxiety.

Seventeen years later his daughter, Vienna, wishes she could be anyone else. Most days she can barely get out of bed and can’t seem to do anything right. She loves her dad, but he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be her. His life would have been very different if she was never born. Sometimes, she wishes that she wasn’t.

Before Your Time follows parallel stories between a father and daughter as they struggle with mental health, societal expectations, and the tumultuous experience of high school.