USC alum writes novel despite adversity
With a student’s constant struggle of balancing a million things at once, a sudden and life-changing medical diagnosis can be hard to grasp. But, for author Sierra Ann Hill, it was exactly this kind of diagnosis that not only altered her life but also inspired her novel, Guitars and Gardenias.
Write what you know · Sierra Ann Hill drew from her experience with brain stimulation therapy for the story of Guitars and Gardenias. – Photo courtesy of Sierra Ann Hill
“When I was first diagnosed, I was kind of a spoiled brat, disabled people were invisible to me … but Parkinson’s wakes you up real fast,” Hill said.
Though Hill has been writing in various forms since she was a young girl, writing this book was an opportunity to control the heroine’s story, and, through this, become more in control of her own life. After she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, her boyfriend of three years left her because he couldn’t handle the prospect of becoming a caretaker.
“My first instinct was to write a song like Taylor Swift, but instead, I wrote this book,” she said. “I decided I would create the heroine’s story to be happy and inspiring.”
The novel follows Leah Hayes and her romance with country-western star Matson Daley. Leah not only has to struggle with whether or not to tell Matson about her own battle with Parkinson’s, she must also face a crazy, murderous fan. The plot twists and suspense that fill the story ensure that only a small part of the book focuses on the Parkinson’s. Leah had given up on life having been paralyzed for years and then suddenly came out of it after undergoing brain stimulation therapy.
Hill was inspired to write the book by brain stimulation therapy, a surgery that involves implanting wires in the brain that are connected to pace makers in the chest that suppress symptoms of Parkinson’s. She underwent the surgery herself in 2013.
“It’s like a light switch, it’s that dramatic,” said Hill of the therapy.
The novel contains an inspiring message about being a fighter, and after talking to Hill, it is easy to see that the influence came from the writer herself. Though the act of speaking can be difficult for Hill at times, she still converses with a humble strength. When she describes her setbacks and battles, she also maintains levity with jokes and laughter. It is this attitude that allows the book to appeal to more than just those who have the same disease.
“There’s a general knowledge to the story that could be adapted to any disease,” Hill said. “I come from a family of fighters -— before I’d even come home, they’d already looked up treatments. The way to survive is to be proactive, it’s your disease and it’s your assignment to overcome it, that’s the spirit I had.”
It is not only her spirit that readers can relate to, however, as Hill is also a USC alumna. She attended both the Master of Professional Writing Program and the School of Cinematic Arts. Hill described USC as a dreamland for a creative person and reminisced fondly on her time there. She said that the lessons she learned in the Professional Writing program have stuck with her, specifically that for writing to be high quality, your character has to have an epiphany and that when characters are in a difficult situation, the writer should make it worse.
“So when they get to the point where [Matson’s] accepted [Leah’s] condition, a jealous fan is out to get her,” Hill said on how the latter lesson from USC came into play in her novel.
Even with the educational experience she gained at USC, Hill still struggled with writing Guitars and Gardenias. It took her eight years, and, due to her condition, she dictated it. Finally, the publisher had to wrestle it away from her.
“There is a point where you correct it too much and it gets worse,” Hill said. “I miss my characters. They sat me down, and they come alive to me, like your friends.”
It is easy to assume that Guitars and Gardenias is just another romance novel meant to feed off the loneliness of the reader, but Hill writes a novel that goes much further that. The beauty in the novel comes from Hill’s ability to combine a wide variety of issues and conflicts without over complication. The book is rife with authenticity and rawness that establishes the book as not just a story of love, but also a story of finding the fighter within.