Hannah Jayne is here today to share her inspiration behind her newest book-- Truly, Madly, Deadly. I read this book and thought it was incredible! I highly recommend it.
Guest Post: I'd like to know her inspiration behind telling this
story and what she hopes teens can get from it (if they are in an abusive relationship too).
I’ve had the idea for this story – at least the scene where Sawyer receives the note in her locker – for as long as I can remember. But that’s all it was: just a single scene, an idea. Little by little it started to evolve, but I was always working on other books when it did and for some reason, I just couldn’t sit down even to write out just that one scene. If I set aside time for it, the moment I sat in front of my laptop, the idea, everything, was gone.
Then I had shoulder surgery, a giant cast, and six weeks of time to kill. I couldn’t work my laptop (stupid cast!), so I just started writing in a notebook. I was constantly writing in notebooks when I was in high school and college – really, through all my time in school. There is something about that pen in my hand that connects it to my heart. Before I knew it, Truly, Madly, Deadly was nearly done.
I never intended to tell the story of Kevin and Sawyer’s relationship. I never really intended for Kevin to be abusive. It just happened when I picked up the pen. I’m pretty certain that was what was blocking me at the computer – Kevin’s violence and Sawyer’s secret. It was my high school experience, too, and up until now, no one but a few of my closest friends ever knew that I was in an abusive relationship that started in high school and followed me to college. I was head cheerleader, my boyfriend was a football player. That kind of thing didn’t happen in high school and if it did, it certainly wouldn’t happen to the girl that had it all together, right?
It nearly ruined me. He nearly killed me – not necessarily from the physical abuse, but the emotional abuse he inflicted on me and I inflicted on myself for years after. I was so ashamed and had let “what I let happen” humiliate me for so long. By the time the notebook and Truly, Madly, Deadly were through, I was finally in a place in my life where I could put all that shame and humiliation out into the world and say, “you know what? This is happening and it’s not normal.” Of course I would love for a teen in an abusive relationship to read this book and get out of that relationship. But even if someone reads it and recognizes themselves and their significant other in Sawyer and Kevin, at the very least, I would hope that she knows she’s not alone.
Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne
Published: Sourcebooks Fire (July 2nd, 2013)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 272 pages
Summary:
Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by"an admirer" and printed with two simple words:"You're welcome."
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