 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A frightening, true story of a teenager who created a character to protect herself. She became an actor who did what she thought she had to do to make it. She went to extremes. She made herself look how they wanted her to look. Said things they wanted to hear. Was seen with people they wanted her to be with. Jane became what they, her audience, wanted. So convincing they thought she (the character) was real. She is real now, so real that Jane could be a nobody, a somebody and anybody.
All kids, teenagers, adults – people, go through stages that at times can become a stage. I went through stages, that became stages, I was your average teenager, and she is inside so that you can be angry, disappointed and understand her.
JaneInside is being published with the support of Kevin Roberts and all profits from the New Zealand sales are going to the TYLA Trust.
| AUTHOR Q&A - Jane Thomsen Tell us about the book. JaneInside is a teenage diary. It’s a story of a positive 12- year-old with dreams growing into a negative 20-year-old that didn’t want to be here anymore. It shows how easily this can happen. It is my story. It is full of diary entries, doodles and poetry written in the voice of the teenager I was. It covers my experiences and thoughts from the age of 12 to 21. It deals with boyfriends, friendships, popularity, sex, drugs, alcohol, youth suicide and many other pressures I faced as a teenager. Who is the book for? The book is for everyone who has been touched by any of the issues that I write about. It’s for people who want to help or who need help. I hope more than anything that parents will read it and give it to their teens to read. Why did you write this book? I wanted to share my story of what can happen when you don’t have the confidence to be yourself. I also wanted to show that making mistakes is not something you should be ashamed off. Writing gives me a place where I am totally free to be myself, I hope by being so open, I will be able to pass on some of that freedom to others, so they can be more open about themselves and their own experiences. I also wanted to remind parents who have forgotten what it feels like to be a teenager and support teenagers who don’t think anyone knows how they feel. There are some pretty tough topics in there – what is the main issue at the heart of JaneInside? It is working out who you are and never compromising that person, because if you do, that is the death of the person you are. What do you think are the most important issues young people face today? Working out who they are and being true to that person. Learning how to solve problems. And finding a sense of belonging. Are they universal things for all teens? Not only are they universal, I actually think that almost the whole human race is learning these on some level. I think it's not until we hit our 30s when we start to understand these issues better and the only difference between an adult and a teen is that the adult has the advantage of experience. What are your views on peer pressure? With teen issues we are always talking about peer pressure – I think peer pressure is an overused label, that’s not to say it doesn’t exist, but if you ask me teens/people are just looking for a sense of belonging – we see evidence of this every day with sports, clubs, community groups, religious groups, gangs, or even with many creating their own families. It’s just harder when you’re a teen, because you’ve had less experience working out who you are. What else can parents be doing? Parents, teachers, caregivers…all need to know how important it is to open children's eyes to the endless possibilities that our world has to offer and help them believe that all those possibilities are there for the taking. We need to sell our kids dreams and give them the currency (the belief) to buy them! And we all need to remember that all problems in life are relative, for example, what may seem trivial to a parent could be insurmountable to a teenager and vice versa. This in no way stops at just parents and teens – everybody needs to learn and understand this. What do you think when people say we shouldn't talk about suicide? Many people get to suicide because they feel they can't talk about their problems. So it is ironic that the popular belief is that to solve suicide it is best left not talked about openly. How does that work? I think the traditional argument that if we talk about it, we will be encouraging more of it, is completely ridiculous. We have a culture of not talking about it and yet we still have suicide as the highest cause of death due to injury. So if you ask me, it’s pretty obvious that the strategy is not working. People know that suicide is an option, just like if you need money you could try robbing a bank. It isn't the thought of knowing it is there that makes people do it – it's the desperation and feeling of aloneness that comes with having feelings that aren't talked about. And when they are, we apply labels like ‘mentally ill’. Why does a mental moment have to be a mental illness? What do you mean by mental moment?
What I am trying to say is that as teenagers and adults we have all had mental moments, but we are not considered mentally ill. But if we have had a moment where we have wanted and planned to end our lives we are labelled mental ill – why is that? Who decides? What was the main reason for you to contemplate suicide? I made a lot of poor choices while trying to be a lot of different people. That was all fine when I was drunk or stoned because I would feel a lot less. But then I would sober up and, as my true self, have to deal with all these things I had done. A whole lot of things happened, which on their own were just little, but together they were huge, and I could no longer separate them. I didn't think anyone cared, I didn't think anyone would understand and I didn't think anyone could help me! And I needed all three. To me it wasn't the easy way out, it was the only way out that I could see. As for family and friends, I just thought that in the long run I would be doing them all a favour. I also think what people don't understand is there isn't a big step from thinking your life is shitty, to not wanting to be here at all. Or maybe people just don't want to believe it, because they want to separate themselves from the likes of me? I believe there is no stereotypical person who is a suicide risk. The most common link we hear is that these people have had problems and suffered from depression – my question to that is who hasn't? Why weren't you yourself? I always felt like an outsider, both at home and at school. Essentially I didn't have a sense of belonging and I think it is human nature to look for this. So I went off to look for a place to belong – I had all this evidence to support the fact I wasn't going to find it being me, so I compromised me, so that at least I would have a place where I would belong. Do you think that today’s teens have somewhere to go for help? The truth is I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers, and when I do find one it usually comes with a whole bunch of more questions! I guess while there are some doors for our teens, I get the feeling there aren’t nearly enough. When I grew up it was a sign of weakness to ask for help, we teach our kids today that it isn’t but the truth is, when you do have a problem quite often you have to go through ten people before you can find the one that can help. Why are you giving the proceeds to charity? When I was at primary school, I would help kids resolve their differences in the playground. At high school I wanted to be a lawyer so I could put all the bad people away. I understand now that my dream, when I was a small child was to help, make a difference in the world I lived in. Writing this book and the TYLA Trust are a starting point for that dream. All the profits from sales in New Zealand will go to TYLA. Tell us about the publishing process. I sent the book to about ten publishers, which pretty much covers the major ones here in New Zealand. I was given some really great feedback but most of them just thought the market wouldn't be big enough or that the book was not suitable for their list. Although it was disappointing that a publisher didn't want to take the risk in publishing the book, there was definitely an upside, as when a publisher takes on your book, you pretty much lose creative control. As a result I was able to have total control of how the book looked, read and felt. It was also a huge learning curve for me as I was responsible for everything from coming up with the design, to choosing the paper, negotiating with printers, selling the idea to a distributor, putting together the marketing campaign and everything else in between. Needless to say I made a lot of mistakes…but I am happy with the way it turned out. How do you know Kevin Roberts and how did you get him on board? The first time I met Kevin was on the front of a North & South magazine that read "Is Kevin Roberts God"? This was not long after I had come up with an advertising idea, aimed at the real, normal and everyday woman. This idea had been fuelled by my frustration of feeling more than inadequate due to images of the women in ads – I felt like they were everywhere and I was the ugly minority. I guess I was having some sort of identity crisis. So I emailed Kevin my idea of how to market sportswear to real, normal and everyday women. At that stage I was a part-time travel consultant and mother of two, living in Papakura and with no formal training in marketing. Everyone I talked to happily advised me I would be ignored, but I persevered, sent him a presentation and he arranged to meet with me. He loved the idea and sent me off to a major sportswear company, but unfortunately they didn’t think the real, normal everyday woman was a big enough market! It was cool to see last year Dove and Nike using a very similar concept. What I found was the whole process gave me a huge rush and I wondered why the hell wasn’t I doing that full time. So I sat down and just started to write my story, because I wanted to know where it all went wrong and how I ended up where I was. This all lead to the idea of publishing some books and once I had my first manuscript I sent it off to Kevin for some feedback. I knew from my research that it is really difficult to publish a book, so I knew I needed to look outside the box as a back up. It took a lot of perseverance. He read it, loved it, gave it to his daughter to read, she loved it also. He thought it was an important story that needed to be told. So from there he came onboard and gave me the resources I needed to self-publish the book. So the answer to "Is Kevin Roberts God" is yes – at least for JaneInside he is! Why did you decide to write under the name of Jane U? When I was writing, I always had the attitude that I hadn’t lived an extraordinary life – I am really just a Plain Jane. So I wanted to make the point that Plain Jane stories are still worth telling, after all we are the majority. So the story could be about anyone, it could be about you. Also my maiden name is Voskamp and my married name is Thomsen and as I don’t really feel like either, but more so something in-between that, then U fits between T and V perfectly ! What's next for you? I have three more books in the same series. The next is about choosing between children and career, not blooming during pregnancy, relationship issues, more messing up, coming to terms with my body changing, having an identity crisis etc. and finally coming to the point where the first story (JaneInside) evolved. The third book is about chasing my dreams and the ups and downs, the fourth searches for answers to the big questions of life, our purpose etc. I have also just finished a children's picture book and am working on many other projects, from more children's picture books to coffee table books and also some light-hearted stuff. |
| “This is one extraordinarily powerful book. I can’t remember when a book had such a profound effect on me…JaneInside is a book with a message and one that won’t leave me for quite sometime." -Marlborough Express, March 2006
|
| Rating: 5/5 Crowns – On Fire!! “This is a must read for all ages…It's raw and it's real…Read This!” - NZ Girlfriend Magazine, May 2006
|
| “What an awe-inspiring book! I never once felt like I was being told how I should live. It’s a true account from a parent who isn’t in denial about what it is like to be a teenager. Somehow JaneInside gave me a greater understanding of why we as teenagers feel the way we do." - Keisha Castle-Hughes, teenager and actress
|
| “…Disturbing, painful, shocking, hard to face. Brilliant…” - Kevin Roberts, father and Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi
|
