CROSSING THE LINE – A BOOK’S GENESIS
© Dianne Bates
When a book is published years after one has penned the first word, it is sometimes difficult to remember those early writing days. Where did the book’s idea come from? Who is the protagonist based on? How was the plot developed? This is especially difficult when the manuscript was re-drafted many times and when it’s taken years to find a publisher willing to invest in it.
Such is the case with my 100th published book, a YA novel, Crossing the Line , published by Ford Street and distributed by Macmillan Book Distribution. Described by fellow authors as ‘nail-biting,’ ‘engrossing’ and ‘profoundly sensitive’, the book is likely to garner a following as it is about a teenage girl who self-harms.
In a recent ABC radio interview, Petrea King of Quest for Life, stated that self-harm is prevalent in high schools all over Australia. So what does a 60-year-old author know about self-harm? And life in a psychiatric hospital unit? And obsession, for that – all of which feature in Crossing the Line?
As a teenager I self-harmed. Why, you ask? Why does anyone with a modicum of intelligence cut their skin? There are probably as many theories as there are girls who cut, but on reflection I think that self-harming results in physical pain which in turn relieves mental turmoil. I was a deeply unhappy child. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, but secretly I hoped someone would find out and ask why, and then I would be able to divulge the reasons for my depression.
In my late teens I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and more recently I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So it is that I have an understanding of mental illness, and empathy for those who suffer from it. And too, I am well aware of patient-therapist transference, a kind of ‘love’ that therapy creates when a patient is revealing the deepest parts of herself and her life.
Sophie, the 17-year-old protagonist in Crossing the Line, has been orphaned and then fostered but when her story begins, she is moving into independent accommodation with two other teenagers. Her life has seen a series of abandonment and already she is cutting when stressed. She is treated by a therapist but when he fears she is suicidal, he puts her under the care of a psychiatrist in an adolescent hospital unit. It is this doctor who Sophie grows to ‘love’ and to stalk when she is eventually released back to the care of her housemates.
Much of Crossing the Line is fictional, but obviously I have drawn on aspects of my own emotional life in writing the book. Doing so makes me feel vulnerable. But at the same time I am looking forward to being able to talk to young people – especially teenage girls – about how to cope with dangerous feelings.
One high school I’ve approached to give a talk is reluctant to have me. The subjects of self-harm, obsession and stalking are scary for them. Teachers know their students experience these things; they don’t want to have the topic opened up. On the other hand, having personal experience, maturity and the wisdom of hindsight, I know that I – and my book — can perhaps be a catalyst for informed discussion and hopefully I can provide alternative solutions to the students I address.
When my only other YA novel, The Last Refuge, about children who are victims of domestic violence, was released, I spoke nationally and personally about the subject and was able to provide advice and information to help victims. It’s now early days in the life of Crossing the Line, which I hope will also provide bibliotherapy, but it’s also an exciting time, too!
Dianne (Di) Bates is a freelance writer, compiler of Buzz Words (The Latest Buzz on Children’s Books) www.buzzwordsmagazine.com , President of the Illawarra-South Coast CBCA and a book fair organiser. She lives in Wollongong, NSW, with her author husband Bill Condon. Their website is www.enterprisingwords.com.
This article is Copyright Dianne Bates. It appears here with the author’s permission.