I had the idea of a group of high school kids that were bullied in school who grew up really traumatized by that experience. The kids’ friendship was partly based on my friendship with my grade school and high school friends. Also, loosely based on being bullied in high school by mean girls.
I kept seeing an image of a boy who was really altered by the school bullying that he turned into a big bully himself when he got older. I had different elements of a story but didn’t know how to stitch them together. I wanted the theme to be about school bullying and thus gave it the title “Bullied Inc.” I also wanted the story to be about friendship and loyalty.
For several months I just thought about the idea of a successful businessman who was bullied in high school and he turned into a big bully when he became rich. I just didn’t know how it was all going to tie up. One day, I had a hare-brained idea. What if I turn it into a time traveling story?
I was always fascinated with time travel. My favorite time-traveling movie is Back to the Future. Another favorite movie I loved growing up was Tom Hank’s Big. Then there’s 13 Going on 30. Another good one is Nicolas Cage’s Family Man.
I had all the ingredients, I just needed to mix them all together so I came up with the plot that combined all my favorite time-traveling films in one book.
So, the premise is this: Lizzie is investigating the abuses in her former friend’s, Rahul’s company. She felt somehow that his high school bullying played a role in his transformation from an innocent boy to a corporate bully. She felt responsible and somehow made a wish to go back in time so she could change the course of her friend’s life.
I wanted there to be a romantic component so I created this character of Christopher, her love interest and childhood crush.
The elements of the story started to make sense. I just needed to device a twist in the time-traveling story that I had created. The plot device involves a fortune cookie! I was inspired by the movie, Big, where Tom Hank’s character had his wish granted by a fortune-teller machine, Zoltar. I just decided to make my version of Zoltar into a fortune cookie.
I’m working on the book and it will be out in March 2020. I hope you will like it. Sign up for my newsletter by going to the Contact Us page so you will receive updates on the status of the book. I’m excited to be writing the book. I can’t wait for you to read it!
Find out if Lizzie is able to change her past. What are the implications and effects of traveling back in time to change your past? Find out on March 2020.