Teenager Arsenal takes medication for her epilepsy, but the drugs cause her to have hallucinations and delusions. Her best friend is institutionalized for anorexia, and her mom suffers from depression. Will Arsenal be able to survive the cure for her illness, and function in her “real” life as well?

What are the themes of the book?

Drug use, hallucinations, paranoia, teen moms, blackmail and anorexia—all in suburbia. Think “Girl Interrupted” meets “A Scanner Darkly.”

Who is it aimed at?
Young adults.

Young adults? Isn’t is a bit dark for kids?
The subject matter is very dark for YA, but young adults are dealing with mental issues, self-worth, and other terrifying topics. Epilepsy affects teenagers as well as adults—according to EpilepsyFoundation.org, about 300,000 Americans 14 and under are diagnosed with it.

Fair point well made.
Anyone who has had to deal with medical issues as a child will recognize that illness shapes your identity. It forces you to identify with your condition, whatever it may be. Also, since Arsenal’s mom was a teenager when she was born, anyone who feels guilty over their birth—anyone who has ever questioned if their parents would have been better off—will be able to relate to Arsenal’s struggle to accept herself in the world.

Tell us about Arsenal’s struggles.
Arsenal is the product of a teen pregnancy, and as such she spends a lot of time trying not to cause trouble. From an early age, she has felt guilty just for existing. When she’s diagnosed with epilepsy, the medication she takes cause her to hallucinate. Her alter egos—Jamais Vu being one of them—start to take on personalities of their own. Other alter egos like the feral child are primal and destructive.

Have you written any other books?

I’m writing a series with my friends called Failure to Pay.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I study at CCNY. I’m pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing, and I sometimes write with other names. I like chocolate and climbing trees. I live in Brooklyn. I like you.

Thank you. We like you too. You’d spoken so earnestly about Arsenal earlier that we’d thought we’d see parallels between your life and hers.
A lot of Arsenal is based off my own experiences with epilepsy as a child. Enough of it is fictionalized that it’s not at all a memoir, but I feel that any child who is medicated is going to have a different childhood than someone who is not. That’s the experience I wanted to bring forward.

Do you have a website?
www.lisamariemartens.com
todaysrandomluckywinner.tumblr.com

What about social media?
Of course!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lisawritesthings
Twitter: @failuretopay

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Mexico, Future – can you give us a brief storyline?
Oh wow!

What? You sound surprised.
That’s actually what my series is about. Read my series Failure to Pay! All of that is in there! It’s about a female bounty hunter who repos immortality in the same way one might repo a car. She makes a man mortal, and then enlists his help to track down immortal rebels. And it’s set in Mexico/Texas.

Oh wow!
What’s next for you?
Finishing “Failure to Pay”…graduating from school…probably working for a startup. I love Internet startups!