Today I have an interview with Dani, the main character is the new novel The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young, set to release later this month. This has been one of my most favorite character interviews thus far because Dani is such an interesting character and my heart just went out to her. You can read my review of Dani's story here.
In the beginning of your story, it seemed to me that you spent a lot of time making sure that other people were happy. Things like, babysitting for Mrs. Alex because it was easier for her, even though you had other things you would have rather done. Do you think this had anything to do with what started happening to you?
That’s a really good observation. I try to be considerate of other people and their feelings and whether they’re being inconvenienced, and maybe I take it a little too far. My therapist said that the bad thoughts get worse when someone is under stress. Possibly the amount of stress I took on while trying to help Mrs. Alex keep her life together contributed to the flareup of the thoughts of harming Alex. To be honest, since I got back to Hawthorne I haven’t been through a time that’s stress-free enough to test out that theory. Maybe some day!
Do you wish that you had done things differently? Maybe made your mom listen that day instead of letting her redirect the conversation?
Maybe when I wanted to quit babysitting and Mrs. Alex didn’t return my phone calls, I should have left a message saying I wasn’t coming back again and just left it at that. There was probably no reason to explain why I had to quit. I thought at the time that I owed her an explanation, but I don’t think that anymore.
Whose reaction to you after the story came out most surprised you? For good or bad.
The thing that most surprised and hurt me was that when my life was in danger my best friend, Shelley, wouldn’t let me hide at her house. We both hurt each other a lot during that time. I hate thinking about it.
What do you do to relax at the end of a stressful day?
I like to do one of three things as strenuously as possible---sing, run, or play tennis. Singing and running get me to breathe when I’m too stressed out to breathe well, and tennis allows me to be as aggressive as possible without hurting anyone. In fact, the more aggressive I am on the court the better it usually is for my team.
You have been through so much recently. Things I can't imagine ever having to face from both internal and external sources. Do you have anything you'd like to say to people out there? Something you would like them to take away from your story?
I would like people to remember that if someone appears to be behaving out of character, that person is still the same person you’ve always known and loved, and they deserve to be treated that way. I also hope that people will stop accepting news stories at face value.
Thanks so much for being interested in me and my thrilling life story.
Wow Dani! Thank you, so much, for taking the time to stop by and share your thoughts with us. I hope that people will learn from your story and grow because yours is definitely a story that invites growth and challenges readers. Again, thank you!