Guest Post: Author Suzanne Kovitz

What inspired me to write my novel Enemy Self?

A dream inspired me to write the story Enemy Self. It was one of those lucky mornings when I actually remembered my dream. I had just graduated college shortly before I had this significant sleep. I recalled that a high school bully switched bodies with her victim and I just embellished the concept. So now I had the victim live life as the bully, in the bully’s perspective, trying desperately to find a way to reverse the switch.

Of course the dream was based on real life experiences I had in grade school. Shy and awkward, I was bullied and an outcast from 5thto 12thgrade. For some reason I was never able to keep journals or diaries about my anguish. Perhaps it was too upfront and personal at the time. Therefore, I transgressed into this fictional format with all my ability, passion and perseverance to produce this work. My novel was also a source of escapism and therapy for me. Furthermore, there is a message in my piece regarding forgiveness and never giving up.

I thought I was alone in my struggles but little did I know that bullying is a national problem. In one large study according to Stopbullying.gov, about 49% of children in grades 4–12 reported being bullied by other students at school at least once during the past month, whereas 30.8% reported bullying others during that time.

Victims commit suicide over unrelenting bullying and harassment in school and through social media. These innocent subjects often keep this a little secret since they are ashamed to be the underdog or target practice in the first place, being defeated in conflicts with other students.

School violence was a problem since I attended school back in the 70’s. I wrote an article regarding the topic and it was published in a local paper. I just didn’t think it would escalate into gun violence of the 21st century, but it did. We must re-learn respect and acceptance of each other as a culture if we don’t want to eventually perish.