Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and Philadelphian who has just released her debut novel A Brush with Love. The publishing of this romance novel represents a major step along Eddings’ personal mission to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain.
Eddings’ book is set in Philadelphia where Harper, a dental student awaiting placement into an oral surgery residency program, has all her plans uprooted when she falls for Dan, a first-year dental student who chafes against his family’s dental legacy. Harper, intent on having no distractions, pushes against her attraction, while Dan contends with the idea of staying “just friends.”
The main character, Harper, has anxiety, and Eddings enables readers to see how this affects Harper’s life whether it be through school, her social life, or potential love. Eddings captures a version of what living with anxiety can be like and allows readers to see how Harper grapples with ableist thoughts influenced by all-too-common negative societal views on mental illness that plague her mind through the story. This book serves as a catalyst for so many necessary conversations about not only having a mental illness, but emotional vulnerability, the struggles of modern dating, and sexism in medical careers.
I was lucky enough to attend Eddings’ book launch which took place in early March at Main Point Books, a quaint bookstore in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where people gathered to celebrate Mazey Eddings’ entry into the publishing world.
Most notable was Eddings’ kindhearted personality and her openness from the second she entered the bookstore. She came armed with gift bags for all those in attendance as well as personalized cookies decorated like the cover of her book. I remember distinctly the moment she entered Main Point because Eddings was carrying a huge box and her laughter pealed through the store as she started greeting the guests. Excited murmurs swept through as the woman of the hour made time to talk with everyone who had arrived. She personalized all the books she signed with small drawings of teeth and wrote well wishes in pink marker. As a self-proclaimed hugger, Eddings treated everyone in the store like a friend, hugging her way around the venue. Her charisma and warmth carried over into the interview that shortly followed, which Eddings’ close friend and fellow neurodiverse author Chloe Liese conducted.
The atmosphere was intimate as people settled in their seats around Eddings and Liese. The interview between the authors felt very conversational and was incredibly inspiring. With everyone’s permission, I was able to record the event and I’ve transcribed below some of what I felt were the most impactful portions of the conversation.
Chloe Liese: A Brush with Love is a contemporary romance. So why this book? Specifically, why a heroine that’s in your field and who is neurodivergent like you?
Mazey Eddings: To be completely frank, I was super depressed and anxious my first year of dental school and thought, “What am I doing with my life?” I felt scared. In all honesty, reading romance novels in general was such a balm to my soul. I had bad insomnia at the time. I was probably reading a romance novel a day. It felt good to see people reach this happily-ever-after that I could count on, and this mattered to me. I would be sitting there at 4 am reading a novel and would think, “It will be okay.” However, I wanted to see my own brain reflected in the novels I was reading.
I’d always toyed around with writing. I wrote a lot of short stories. Harper and Dan really just popped into my head. They were so loud and noisy; they wouldn’t shut up. I couldn’t do anything but write them. I was in the back of lecture halls writing their story. I felt like I was watching these two people fall in love in a similar situation I was in. So, to see these characters find love and self-love, it really impacted me. It helped me. I feel thankful to these characters for appearing in my head. It felt cathartic to write their story.
CL: To that point, people who have read A Brush with Love have said that seeing someone like Harper be loved and be understood is a gift to them.
ME: To really get personal with it, anxiety has been a huge part of my life since I was young. I remember my first anxiety attack was when I was seven. I was in first grade. I had to do a reading test on this book, and I had a total meltdown. I had to be picked up from school and it was this huge thing. That kind of sensation was something I experienced all the time growing up. And then, finally when I was 12, I was officially diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. I was put on Prozac. Shout out to Prozac, longest relationship I’ve ever had.
Anxiety is something that I’ve lived with for so much of my life and it’s just a fact of who I am. I wanted to demonstrate that having a mental illness, this weight you carry—anxiety, depression, whatever it may be—it doesn’t inhibit you from living a full life. It’s just a fact of that full life that you’re living. And so, I really enjoyed demonstrating that in Harper and her journey with defeating these ableist voices in her head, journeying past that, and getting help.
CL: Why do you believe we need characters who are neurodivergent in romance specifically?
ME: Because our stories matter. What we experience matters. I have a lot of stuff going on. I battle anxiety, I am ADHD, I’m autistic. I have these different elements that make me the person that I am. But I’m also an artist, I’m a scientist, I’m a runner, occasionally. Actually, I’m not a runner. Please don’t identify me as that. I’m a jogger/power-walker sometimes.
I think that it’s important because I so badly wanted to see a brain like mine in romance. I don’t identify as the main character. Harper is a very unique and a different individual than who I am. I wanted to see someone’s brain that functions like mine. There’s this pain you carry with you that influences the way you interact with people. And so, I wanted to see this reflected in my characters. I think with showing neurodivergence in romance, this representation matters. We are people and our experiences, our stories, deserve to be reflected in main characters and deserve to have a profound love.
CL: Dan falls in love with Harper as she is struggling. He doesn’t fall in love with her after. He loves her all along the way. It’s so important to show that you don’t fall in love with one moment of a person. It affirms to people that you don’t have to be “fixed” or “fine” to have love.
ME: I think that the sensation of feeling broken is very much what society tells us to feel like. Healing does not mean that you’re broken. It just means that you are working at closing over a wound. But you are not a broken thing.
What matters is that we surround ourselves with people that love us for who we are and what we are going through. Those who are willing to be there through the really dark moments and the light ones. These are the people that will stick around and that matter to me because they are willing to stand there with you in the dark.
If you’re interested in following Mazey Eddings’ writing journey, check out her Twitter, Goodreads, or Instagram where she posts about her upcoming books, connects with her readers, and uploads reels that dive into her stories. For example, she posted an Instagram reel about the spots in Philadelphia that inspired locations in A Brush With Love. As a resident of Philly, you can feel her love of the city through her characters, and it allows you to see Philadelphia through new eyes. She has also done us the favor of creating a Harper + Dan Pinterest board as well as a Harper & Dan Spotify playlist.
Madison Betts is a junior at Drexel University pursuing a B.A. in English with a concentration in writing. When she isn’t buried in a book, she spends her time writing one, aiming to publish a series of her own. She also enjoys paddle boarding, yoga, and boxing.