Where do you get the ideas for your books?
All my books spring from my own experience in some way, although I recombine the elements and circumstances to create a new story. For instance, some of my life is reflected in My Beautiful Failure because I once volunteered on a suicide hotline, although I never fell in love with any of the callers. I've also helped a relative put together a major art show at his home, but that person was not my father and he was neither depressed nor manic.
How did you decide to write about OCD?
Many authors have created characters with OCD, but I wrote my story from firsthand experience with the illness. You can read more about that in the author's note to Things I Shouldn't Think. Unlike my main character, however, I have never been picked up by the police for having OCD, nor has my illness made me the target of vigilantes. Those are two examples of ways that I shape and recombine the elements of a story.
You write about depression in The Opposite of Music and My Beautiful Failure. Have you ever been depressed?
I've been depressed twice because of difficult circumstances that I felt I had no control over, but I'm not generally a depressive person. Many of my friends and family members have been depressed, so I've seen the illness at close range, and I've also been a caregiver.
Are your books accurate?
Because I'm writing a story that I want to be emotional and exciting, my books are probably less accurate than a textbook. But they are more accurate than the many books that have not incorporated research and firsthand experience. I'm pleased that a number of readers who have the type of OCD depicted in Things I Shouldn't Think have thanked me for showing the illness so realistically.
All my books spring from my own experience in some way, although I recombine the elements and circumstances to create a new story. For instance, some of my life is reflected in My Beautiful Failure because I once volunteered on a suicide hotline, although I never fell in love with any of the callers. I've also helped a relative put together a major art show at his home, but that person was not my father and he was neither depressed nor manic.
How did you decide to write about OCD?
Many authors have created characters with OCD, but I wrote my story from firsthand experience with the illness. You can read more about that in the author's note to Things I Shouldn't Think. Unlike my main character, however, I have never been picked up by the police for having OCD, nor has my illness made me the target of vigilantes. Those are two examples of ways that I shape and recombine the elements of a story.
You write about depression in The Opposite of Music and My Beautiful Failure. Have you ever been depressed?
I've been depressed twice because of difficult circumstances that I felt I had no control over, but I'm not generally a depressive person. Many of my friends and family members have been depressed, so I've seen the illness at close range, and I've also been a caregiver.
Are your books accurate?
Because I'm writing a story that I want to be emotional and exciting, my books are probably less accurate than a textbook. But they are more accurate than the many books that have not incorporated research and firsthand experience. I'm pleased that a number of readers who have the type of OCD depicted in Things I Shouldn't Think have thanked me for showing the illness so realistically.
