\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tThe Brand Famous for Designer Fashion Dupes Makes the Best Greens Powder\u2014So You Can Stop Overpaying for Yours\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\tThe novel centers on the sweet romance between Marissa and Jesse, the childhood friend-turned-carpenter working on her house, but Marissa\u2019s role as a mom is what sets everything in motion. As her ex reunites with his old flame and the paparazzi swarm Marissa\u2019s house, \u201cshe is very stressed out about the impact it\u2019s going to have on her children,\u201d Hameroff explains. That anxiety is what prompts her to leave Hollywood for Pennsylvania. \u201cWhat sets the novel into motion,\u201d Hameroff says, \u201cis a decision she makes for the welfare of her kids.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt was Hameroff\u2019s first time writing from the perspective of a mother, but she says it felt natural. Writing Levi, Marissa\u2019s autistic child, though, came with some nerves. \u201cThe representation needs to feel right,\u201d she remembers thinking. \u201cIt needs to feel authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t\tRewrite the Stars: A Novel\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tHameroff drew heavily from her own parenting experience. She also got inspiration from bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, whose novel This Could Be Us<\/a><\/em> includes a character whose son has autism. Hameroff picked Ryan\u2019s brain about writing a neurodivergent caregiver and \u201cshe sort of gave me the confidence to go for it,\u201d Hameroff says. But Ryan also advised her that \u201cpeople are very sensitive about certain aspects of autism,\u201d Hameroff recalls. \u201cSo, I was very nervous about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThere are many aspects that feel true to life about Levi\u2019s character \u2014 because they are. Hameroff\u2019s son, for example, once went through a phase of only eating miniature Eggo waffles, a detail Hameroff borrowed for Levi. \u201cAutism is a spectrum<\/a>,\u201d Hameroff notes. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be different for everybody, but this is one snapshot of one lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOther details are pulled from real life, too. When Marissa talks about Levi\u2019s diagnosis with other parents, their responses echoed real conversations Hameroff had. \u201cPeople meant well, but they said things that felt like a gut punch,\u201d Hameroff recalled, like, \u201c\u2018This is every parent\u2019s nightmare. We\u2019re so sorry this is happening to you.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe true-to-life details and emotions made Rewrite the Stars<\/em> the most difficult book Hameroff has written. Some days, she says, working on the book felt like pulling teeth because it was so close to to her heart. The pressure of representation was also heavy. \u201cWriting this book was very therapeutic,\u201d Hameroff says, \u201cbut at the same time, knowing that I was writing about something that people were going to relate to \u2014 being a single mom, a divorced mom<\/a>, and a caregiver for children and children on the spectrum \u2014 I felt a responsibility to really get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Quince](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/section>\n<\/p>\n![\"Author](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/RewriteTheStars_FC.jpg?w=667\")
<\/p>\n\n