Tonya Hurley's Ghostgirl puts an entertaining spin on being invisible in high school.
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Tonya Hurley is a multi-faceted artist in search of a story. The determined writer, filmmaker, and music lover is the author of Ghostgirl. The book stars Charlotte, who meets with an untimely death and returns to high school invisible! We talked with Hurley, who shared some insight on her book, high school trauma, and the mindset you need to make it as an artist. Hurley's sequel to Ghostgirl, titled Homecoming, will be released in July 2009.
Shojo Beat: Do you believe in ghosts?
Tonya Hurley: This book is about ghosts, but it's not a ghost story. I used death as a metaphor for being invisible and fitting in. Do I think there are ghosts? Probably. I haven't seen any personally. They're not necessarily what we think they are.
These five songs motivated Tonya Hurley while she was writing Ghostgirl, which is chock-full of song references.
"I Will Follow You into the Dark"—Death Cab for Cutie
"Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"—She & Him
"Pin"—Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Disappointed"—P.I.L.
"To Wish Impossible Things"—The Cure
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SB: Why did you write a novel about high school?
TH: I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders from those years. Death is really a creative, perfect topic for a writer. Everyone thinks they know what happens, but no one really knows. It's where fantasy mirrors reality. Everything is pretty much life or death when you're a teenager. It shapes who you are. It's a real test of survival, high school. It can be the best time of your life and the most traumatic.
SB: Why is music tied in so tightly with the story?
TH: I mix music with poetry because it's as important as poetry to me. I feel like, at a lot of times in my life, it's the only thing that's been there for me. I was in a punk band in high school and studied music in college. When I moved to New York, I wanted to work in music so bad that I cleaned toilets at a record company. Music has always been so important.
SB: Why are there no parents in Ghostgirl?
TH: That's something I'm going to explore in the future. For the first book, I wanted to keep it on a teenage level. I'm more of a Charlie Brown kind of thinker where you just let the action play where the action is. There will be parents showing up, but it's not in the way you expect them to.
SB: What's it like striking out on your own as an artist. Did you ever feel like quitting?
TH: I still do. At the beginning, it's really hard. There are so many people telling you this isn't working. Keep true to your core story. Keep reinventing it. I wanted to stick to what my story was. It might take years longer, but it's something you'll be much more happy with. You don't have to have money to do [your story]. I'm proof of that. I made five short films [on basically] nothing. It's so incredible now. With YouTube and the Internet, there are a lot more ways to get your stories out there.
SB: Is it important to be friends with other artists like yourself?
TH: I know a lot of filmmakers and writers like to surround themselves with filmmakers and writers. When you're working, it's better to be by yourself with your own thoughts. I approached it by from a naive place. I didn't know there was this pressure on me. You have to have so much money, you have to know this...that's not true. If you have a story, you tell it the best way you can. It doesn't matter what other people are doing.
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