While the Voices manuscript was gestating, Rebecca was hard at work on a parallel, even more personal endeavor.

On August 2 – the same day the proofs for Voices were sent to the printer – Rebecca and her husband Jamie welcomed Ava Karen Schlessinger into the world.  

Ava is Rebecca’s first child; it won’t be long before her shoes will be covered in red dirt from hiking in canyons and scrambling on sandstone. Ava’s middle name, Karen, is a tribute to Rebecca’s grandmother and Steve’s late wife, Karen Strom. May Ava always be as strong-willed, intelligent, and open to new experiences as her great-grandmother.