Fire Fire You're a Liar

Fire FireYou're a Liar, a sequel to Please Tell Me Who I Am is part of what I call my teenage angst books because they highlight issues that face teens at risk of an emotional crisis. Our current state of mental health is at a critical point as we struggle to find resources to help with depression and anxiety. This is especially so for teens who may believe they can't approach parents and guardians about their issues and therefore tend to rely on friends as their first line of response. The problem is that their friends may be struggling themselves.

In writing about fire-setting, I have researched what motivates teenagers and children to set fires. There is usually a trauma in their backgrounds that account for depression and anxiety. With no easy way to resolve their issues, they may resort to acting out in many different ways - self-harm, drugs, sexual promiscuity, risky behaviours and yes, setting fires. It provides a release for intense emotions that threaten to overwhelm them, like a valve releases compressed air. When the pressure builds to an uncomfortable level, they find the need to act.

In Fire Fire You're a Liar a character uses setting fires as a way to cope with overwhelming emotions related to a past trauma. The question is, who is it and why are they doing it? Over the course of the book, Alexis, the main character, eventually figures out the who but is stuck on the why. Until that is revealed the fire-setting will escalate as it takes larger and larger fires to ease the pain. Even teens who are not fire-setters will relate to the devastating emotions that, forgive the pun, fuel the fire of despair.

Have a great day everyone!

Blessings,

Barbara