HOLLOW, the story that I wrote came from a vivid dream I had last year. I can still see it when I close my eyes. The empty room with the mirror on the wall. A stool with a camera on it and the face in the mirror looking back at me that is not mine.

And yet…I knew it is, as well as the many other faces I took in my dream. It is funny how all my stories start from my dreams.

With my HOLLOW manuscript completed, I’ve been spending my time preparing to query the agents I’m interested in and also drawing. Yes…I’ve been drawing with Gabriel, my son. We came up with some symbols for the Pi language on Tempus which I have to say are pretty cool. I’d also spent a good 3 hours drawing the image of the WALL of 33, which took forever, and my fingers were cramping when I was done.

For that brief 3 hours, I felt what it was like to be Alice. Each square which I drew represented each photograph she took after she woke up. Each one painstakingly drawn, retraced by my hand and mapped out to the 33 women and girls on a list I had, made me feel sad and frustrated (especially after the 2nd hour of continuous drawing). Alice must have felt like her changes would never end. She must have felt impotent, helpless and depressed.

So, if I could speak to Alice, I would say to her, “I think I understand your pain. Even if it was for a moment in time.” As the author, I’d tell her, “Don’t worry. You are worthy, Alice. You will prevail.”