The inspiration for the FORGET TOMORROW series came from two things, perhaps the two cornerstones of my life: my deep, unconditional love for my sister (and later on, my children) and my deep, unconditional desire to be a writer.
I have a sister who is twelve years younger than me, and I have always felt an extremely close bond with her. This fierce protectiveness was a precursor to the feeling I would have with my own children. Before I even stumbled onto the premise of this series, I knew I wanted to write my next story about the deep, maternalistic love that a girl can have for her much younger sister — and the lengths to which she would go to protect that sister.
I always tease my sister, Lana, that FORGET TOMORROW is my favorite book because I get to kill her in it. This isn’t true for a couple reasons. First, FORGET TOMORROW isn’t necessarily my favorite book, although I do consider it the book of my heart. Second, this book isn’t actually about how much I want to kill my sister; rather, it is about how much I love her. This is the reason FORGET TOMORROW is dedicated to her.
A short while after I decided to write a book about sisters, I was bemoaning my publishing fate to an editor friend. I was on submission to agents with my second manuscript, I had received over a hundred rejections, and I had been working seriously on my craft for years. It felt like I was never going to achieve my dream — that elusive book contract — and I was out of patience.
“I wish I had a crystal ball,” my friend said. “Then I could tell you that five years from now, you would be published, and you wouldn’t waste so much time worrying about it.”
This quote led me to the world of my series. A few days later, during an afternoon nap with my toddler son, as I was drifting in and out of sleep, I contemplated my friend’s words. “Wouldn’t it be great,” I thought to myself, “if I could send a memory back to my younger self? I could see that I was a successful published author and that my hard work and heartache were worth it.” My very next thought was: “Hey! That would make a cool premise for a book!”
I then asked myself: what would be the worst memory a heroine like mine could receive, a heroine whose main goal in life is to protect her little sister? That answer was also clear and immediate. The worse memory she could receive was one where she saw her future self killing her little sister.
Presto, FORGET TOMORROW was born.
* Incidentally, this quote is also the inspiration for “Crystal Ball,” the song that Grammy-nominated songwriter David Elliot Johnson and Kimberly Bell wrote for FORGET TOMORROW. This is one of Entangled Music’s first released songs, and it is absolutely stunning. If you haven’t heard it yet, you can check out a sample here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0qpJyUltrs
** For a limited time only, FORGET TOMORROW is on sale for a mere 99 pennies! And guess what? If you buy the edition with audio/video, you also get the “Crystal Ball” song + one other song for free. This is a steal! Grab it now before the sale ends!
Buy links:
pintipdunn.wordpress.com 