The world was shocked and saddened when news broke that Kryst died by suicide at just 30 years old on Jan. 30, 2022, by jumping to her death from a high level at The Orion Condominiums. Moments before taking her own life, she texted her mother, April Simpkins. In her text, she included a personal request to help ensure a book she wrote would get published someday.

“She left me her final wishes in the text message that she sent to me the morning that she passed… that I see to it that her book get published and it has been quite a journey doing that,” Simpkins said in an interview with EXTRA TV.

Simpkins has been working hard ever since to fulfill her late daughter’s wishes. Her dedication to seeing it through paid off because Kryst will be recognized as a published author on April 23, 2024, when her book, By the Time You Read This: The Space Between Cheslie’s Smile and Mental Illness, becomes available in stores and online via Forefront Books.

The first half of the book details Kryst’s thoughts (in her own words) on some of her proudest accomplishments, including earning an MBA and law degree, competing in Miss USA in 2019, and becoming a host for Extra. In the second half of the book, readers will learn how Simpkins’ life changed the morning of her daughter’s passing.

In the same interview with Extra, Simpkins said, “These are her own words… Cheslie for most people who saw her on TV or saw her at events, she was smiling and she was bubbly and she was happy, and that was her true self… but there was still a lot of pain that she felt and I do feel like the book stands right between that place of what people saw in her smile and her private battle with depression and that is why we use that phrase ‘the space between her smile and mental illness.”

To bring the full-circle moment home, Simpkins gave Extra exclusive footage of Kryst’s announcement that she completed her book during a family vacation in Israel for the Miss Universe pageant in 2021.

“It’s so wild. Like, I wrote a book,” she said, grinning with happiness.

Simpkins also shared her wishes for anyone who picks up her late daughter’s book.

“We don’t know what’s going on in the lives of many people, but what we can extend is kindness, a listening ear, and a safe space,” she said. “And I hope that when people read this book that they promise themselves to seek help when they need it, that they work to create a safe space so that their friends can share, and that they learn how to really listen.”

The book’s proceeds will go toward the Cheslie C. Kryst Foundation, which was created to help the millions of people who are battling mental illness.  By the Time You Read This is available for pre-order.