Most of you might not know Brittany Maynard, the incredible and beautiful 29-year-old who fought for the right to die on her own terms. While writing Ghostboy, Chameleon & the Duke of Graffiti, I watched a video of this brave woman on the Internet. I’ve embedded it here for those of you who missed it.
I was moved to tears by her poignant account. She had stage 4 Glioblastoma, which is the worst sort of brain cancer. At the time, my main character, eight-year-old Jaime already had brain cancer, however, I was still debating whether he would make a miraculous recovery. It’s watching Miss Maynard’s video that I took my decision.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in happy endings, in miracles—I’ve seen some happen with my own eyes to a person very close to me. But this story wasn’t about science and cures—it was about people. About love, friendship, and adventures.
Like Brittany, Jaime’s battle wasn’t about surviving…his battle was about making a difference around him. For those of you who’ve read Ghostboy, I hope that you loved Jaime as deeply as I did.
As I said before, and I’ll say it again:
