The Story Behind "Snot Rag & Cheese Whiz"

One of the questions I've been asked the most since revealing my newest book has nothing to do with Amber, Jeremy, or Lilusa.

Instead, it's: "Where on earth did the title Snot Rag & Cheese Whiz come from?"

It's a fair question.

Believe it or not, the answer takes us back more than a couple of decades.

When I was about twelve years old, I was already making up stories. I don't remember exactly what inspired this particular one, but I remember enough of it to smile whenever I think about it.

It was a sweet little children's love story about a boy and a girl who were convinced they were mortal enemies. They teased each other endlessly and couldn't seem to get through a conversation without arguing. Somewhere along the way, my twelve-year-old brain decided they would call each other:

Why those names?

Honestly...I have absolutely no idea

.

There wasn't any hidden symbolism or clever meaning behind them. They were simply the wonderfully ridiculous names that popped into my head, and somehow they fit.

The story took place at a summer camp. During a hike, the girl became separated from the group and injured her ankle. The boy realized she was missing, slipped away to look for her, and eventually found her alone in the woods.

He stayed with her through the night.

He took care of her. He protected her. He kept her calm until help could arrive.

And somewhere during that long night, they both realized that maybe they didn't dislike each other quite as much as they had always claimed.

Looking back now, it's admittedly a very twelve-year-old story.

But here's the funny thing.

While I eventually outgrew that story, I never outgrew the title.

For some reason, "Snot Rag" and "Cheese Whiz" stayed with me.

I've always loved silly nicknames between people who genuinely care about each other. There's something so personal about them. They're often completely nonsensical to everyone else, yet they become tiny little reminders of shared memories, inside jokes, and affection that belongs only to those two people.

Those are the kinds of nicknames that become part of a relationship's language.

Years passed...

I wrote other stories. I grew as a writer. Life happened.

Then one day, I began writing the story that would eventually become Snot Rag & Cheese Whiz.

Amber and Jeremy's story isn't the same one I imagined when I was twelve. Not even close.

But as I continued writing, I realized something.

This new story had been built on the bones of that old one.

The details had changed.

The setting had changed.

The characters had grown into fully realized adults with complicated lives and very different journeys.

Yet underneath it all was the same feeling that had captured my imagination all those years ago: that sometimes the people who know us best are the ones we've known the longest, and sometimes love doesn't begin with grand gestures—it begins with shared memories, familiar laughter, and years of history we don't fully appreciate until we're older.

In many ways, Snot Rag & Cheese Whiz became a love letter to that twelve-year-old girl who simply loved telling stories.

She never would have imagined that one day those two goofy nicknames she scribbled into a notebook would become the title of a published novel.

I think she'd be pretty excited.

And honestly...

So am I.