Move is an #ownvoices story that takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1973. Nancy, the co-writer of the story, is also the main character. While Maria contributed largely to the central conflict and plot structure of the story, Nancy’s feelings towards making friends, being adopted, and her birth mother come from the heart and from real life experience.

While the events in Move are largely based on people and events from when Nancy moved from Boston to North Carolina in 1973, she would like to make it clear that she never stole anyone’s lunch money! Ashley and her gang are works of fiction, but Nancy often felt isolated and alone outside of her usual role as the adopted kid, and often wished she had popular friends who would include her in their group. She always loved horses, and discovering her love of horseback riding helped her make friends and figure out who she was. She never stopped loving horses, and currently spends most of her free time taking care of and riding her three horses: Devan, Maggie, and Zip.

Nancy often dreamed about who her birth mother was as a girl, and continued to wonder about her as an adult. She never met her, but discovered her story later in life and it was similar to the one depicted in the first few pages of Move. While she never connected directly with her birth mother, she did discover family on her birth father’s side several years ago through a 23andMe test! She found a half sister whom she keeps in touch with regularly, and found out that her birth father was an artist, just like her daughter, Maria.