Q&A with Whitney D. Grandison

Whitney D. Grandison is the author of the new young adult novel A Love Hate Thing. She lives in Akron, Ohio.

Q: You write that two different people inspired your character Tyson Trice. Can you say more about that, and about the inspiration for your character Nandy?

A: Growing up, I had a Tyson. I was like, 7 or something, or maybe 10. And there was this boy who came around our neighborhood one day with his grandfather who was doing lawn work and the boy, Jeremy, started hanging around me and my older brother.

There weren’t that many kids in the neighborhood and so it was just us. We would just hang out and Jeremy and my brother would sometimes play with action figures and I would too.

The thing about Jeremy was that he always dressed nice and together and was so adorable and polite. We definitely had some puppy love I guess you can say. I remember when my brother wasn’t around I’d always boss Jeremy around and get him to do what I wanted.

I remember once it was just us watching cartoons in our basement one day and I remember I kissed him for like 10 seconds or whatever and then I’m all “Let’s go outside and dance” and he’s like, “Okay” and we did. We were literally linked by elbows square dancing in the street and every time my mom thinks of him she brings that up because she caught us.

Well, Jeremy sorta disappeared one day. Like his grandfather would still come around and do lawns but Jeremy stopped coming and it hurt, you know?

And then I got older and went through high school and one moment there he was, but he was different. He swore, and was just off and he was like the world, and it saddened me because he wasn’t my Jeremy anymore and I’d lost that sweet boy from my youth. We talked briefly, and then we just didn’t talk anymore and once more he vanished.

From that I always wanted to write a story about a friendship that started young and the boy disappearing and coming back different. So that was an idea.

Fast forward to my senior year/last semester where I meet Trice. His first name started with a T but he went by his last name for some reason. He was a new student from our rival school and he was just so…hard, you know?

And I don’t know, everything about him read RUN and TROUBLE and for some reason I found this boy fascinating. We sat by each other in English and he was so harsh, and even on Facebook too, and I remember him talking about guns and how he’s willing to kill and how he’s gonna die, and how he doesn’t trust or love anyone.

I just was super fascinated by his mentality and hardness that I saw a character in there. So I got this desire to write a story about a senior year and a girl who gets paired up with a guy like that, a guy with this impenetrable hardness and how she at first fears him and then through time she wanted to crack that wall and so I had this story, about a girl and Trice.

Somehow I married those two boys into one and Tyson Trice came to be.

As far as Nandy goes, we’re so opposite, she’s far more confident than me and social and outgoing and upfront. I was never afraid of Trice and I remember asking him why he felt the way he did, but I never cracked the ice or stayed with it.

I love Nandy’s strength in that regard. Nandy’s great for Trice, she gives him discipline. Aside from Prophet, she’s the only one he can truly listen to. She makes him see his potential and what he stands to lose. Or at least that was the aim.

Q: You tell the story from Trice's and Nandy's alternating perspectives. Did you write the novel in the order in which it appears, or did you focus more on one character before turning to the other?

A: Typically when I write two POV I always write chronologically, even if I get stumped on one character’s chapter or voice.

Q: Did you know how the book would end before you started writing it, or did you make changes along the way?

A: I think about halfway through I knew how it was going to end. I definitely didn’t go into this project with a clear plan, as I never do.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

A: I definitely hope readers take away from A Love Hate Thing not to judge someone based on where they’re from or speculation, but to get to know them. And I really hope boys read it and take in the lesson on toxic masculinity. 

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Currently I’m working on my sophomore novel, The Right Side of Reckless, slated for summer 2021, about a boy on probation who’s trying to right his wrongs but he starts to fall for his probation supervisor’s daughter – which sparks a forbidden friendship and possibly more.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: This definitely isn’t the last you’ll see of the Pacific Hills Knights! I hope to tell more of their stories someday. 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb