I wrote Hyacinth Girls while living in the English countryside - in a small village called Great Missenden. 

 

It was the sort of place where you could walk in one direction and see sheep, turn left to visit cows, or head up a hill populated by goats. Not exactly what a girl from Stratford, Connecticut is used to, but my husband had grown up nearby, and for inspiration, I was able to walk past the hut where author Roald Dahl wrote his children's books. 

 

As I tried to work out the story for Hyacinth Girls, I took daily walks through the woods and fields of Great Missenden (pictured here). I also made the mistake of mentioning to the village's postmistress that I was writing a novel. After that, every time I needed stamps or wanted to send a card home to the states, I was greeted with the same question (a question that every unpublished writer dreads): Have you sold your book yet?  

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Eventually, miraculously, I did. I wrote Hyacinth Girls because I believe that the friendships we have when we're twelve or thirteen can have a big influence on who we become as adults, and also because I wanted to show how the loss of these friendships can shape our lives. Callie's story was inspired by my work with teenagers (I've been a teacher, a librarian, and a volunteer in a girls' group home), but the truth is, I discovered her voice in the woods of Great Missenden.

 

My hope is that readers of Hyacinth Girls will understand that you don't have to be a weirdo to be bullied and you don't have to be an evil beast to be a bully. Friends can bully friends. You don't have to be a damaged soul to engage in cruelty. As humans, we all have the capacity to be cruel, but we also have the ability to begin resisting these impulses.

 

As for teenagers who've experienced a situation similar to Callie's, I hope you know that what you're going through is only temporary. In a few years time, your life will be much better than you can imagine - but it's up to you to stick around for it.

----Lx