Nadia and I both lost our siblings to overdose in 2015. She was seven months pregnant when her sister passed away. I was tending to a 13‑month‑old when my brother died. We were thrust into motherhood anew while grappling with profound grief at the same moment. And now we each have books addressing that experience that are being released by the same publisher just a month apart. In many respects, our lives have run in parallel tracks.
–Stephanie Wittels Wachs
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Nadia Bowers: Both of your books—Everything is Horrible and Wonderful (2018) and your latest, Last Day—linger on the opioid crisis. Could you share a bit about what propelled you to write the first, deeply personal account of your brother’s death, and how that led you to the second project?
S
