Q: Is there more truth (ie inspiration from your own life) in the details or in the story's themes? -Zach, Henderson, NV
A: The story's themes. The details are mainly fictional, but the themes were inspired by many of my own personal emotional journeys. Writing this book was therapeutic for me. Like September, I also lost my very best friend, although not to a car accident, but to a drug addiction (while that friend has not passed away her addiction permanently altered our relationship and it took me ten years to get over it). I did lose a good friend to a car accident. Perhaps my biggest inspiration for the plot was my Grandma Pat's experience. She lost her closest friend in a car accident. She was in the car when the accident took place. She saw graphic details she could never shake from her memory, which haunted her for her entire life. She was a teenager when the accident occurred. She chose to never drive a car again. I was in several car accidents (I only caused one of them) and became fearful of driving for years, myself. Car accidents have always disturbed me. Attacking a difficult theme like that was somewhat liberating. The inspiration for Adrien's story was also somewhat autobiographical. I struggled for many years with crippling depression. While I didn't have to deal with the kind of guilt he did (thankfully!), I relate so much to his suffering. I thought it would be interesting to explore the theme of forgiveness. I had to do a lot of forgiving over the years. I've also had to ask for forgiveness. I've learned forgiveness is a critical key to happiness.
Q: How did you choose the characters' names? -Amanda, Troutdale, OR
A: September, Adrien, Abby and Chris were names I would've given my own children. I thought it would be funny to give Mary, who is the quirkiest character in the book, a typical name. Some families give their kids names that fit into a theme (nature, names that start with J, etc). September's parents are so average and unoriginal they decided to simplify things by naming their kids after the months they were born in.
Q: Where did you get inspiration for September's character? -Kirkham, Provo, UT
A: September is me in disguise. She and I share many of the same personal experiences, interests and character traits. I made a few tweaks to keep it from being too obvious: September is a photographer and I'm a painter (although I dabble in photography). September is actually more resilient than me. I had to make her grieving process move forward quickly for the sake of pacing. If she took a whole ten years to move forward and forgive, the book wouldn't have qualified for the YA category. I don't think a teen wants their protagonist to be 28 at the end of the story. I wanted to keep it relatable for my target audience.
Q: What's with Adrien's head to toe green outfits? -Anonymous
A: I knew a cool boy in high school who one day showed up to school dressed that way, in clashing variations of green. I admired his courage to do something different and ended up trying it myself. I thought it would be a funny trait for Adrien to have. There is no meaning behind it beyond that.
Q: What character do you feel like is most similar to your own personality? Did you base any characters off people you know? -Stephen, Woodland Hills, UT
A: As mentioned above, September was based off of me. I also feel Adrien was somewhat inspired by me and my own demons, combined with what I thought was the ideal guy back in my teen years--moody, troubled, artistic, sensitive and handsome. Chris was inspired by a guy I dated. Abby was a combination of my two closest friends--my childhood best friend, Anne, and my sister, Rachel. Mary represented my goth friends in high school and their (sometimes comical) fascination with death. Most of those friends were quite offbeat and sweet, too. I'm not sure how I came up with John. I confess I used to daydream about dating a hot Native American guy. I thought it would be interesting to make him September's polar opposite. September's family is actually quite different from my own. I'm very close to my family and they are much more interesting and silly and down to earth than September's.
Q: You mention a lot of music in the book. How has/does music influence your life? What would you say to someone struggling with depression or who knows someone with it? What can people do to help their friends/family with depression? -Heather, Bellevue, NE
A: Music has been (and still is) a lifesaver for me. It got me through so many years of grief and depression. I turned to the same bands September did in my teen years. I LOVED '80s stuff, although I was not a teen during that decade. The Smiths/Morrissey was a huge blessing in my life. It was comforting knowing someone out there was more lonely, sad and pathetic than I was. The Cure got me through some dark days. Although I no longer suffer from depression (thanks to God and years of therapy), music, of the past and today, still brings me a great deal of joy and comfort. The depression part is tricky. It is so common these days, yet still so misunderstood. A wise man recently compared depression to cancer. You wouldn't tell someone with cancer to snap out of it. A person simply can't help it--it can take months or even years to overcome the illness, if you are so lucky. The worst things you could say are, "Just be happy." "Smile! It's all in your head." Depression affects one's brain chemistry. It is often genetic. Many times it comes from trauma or loss. Most people cannot climb out of that dark hole alone. Encourage them to get professional help. Be compassionate and nonjudgmental. Share with them the local or National Suicide Prevention Lifeline if necessary. (1-800-273-8255)
Q: What are you working on now? -Anonymous
A: I am working on two projects. I'm putting a final gloss on a novel about a teen runaway who leaves her abusive step-father to start a new life. She finds a long forgotten, hidden room in a high school to live in and hopes to not only survive physically and emotionally, but to thrive. She has a dream of becoming a professional artist and there is, of course, a juicy love triangle. I am also writing a book about a girl who is severely misunderstood and bullied at school. She has a pretty bad case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and happens to be obsessed with a gorgeous and unobtainable boy who sits in front of her in her AP English class. She hesitantly befriends a weird Australian guy--it's hard for her to trust anyone after her dad ditches her and her mom.
Thanks for the questions and interest in my book! If you have any more, please leave them in the comments, along with your name and location. I will happily answer them and add them here or to a later post. And thank you for supporting indie authors!
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