Jilanne Hoffmann: HEARTLAND (ADHD)
Welcome to A NOVEL MIND, Jilanne! Tell us a little about yourself!
I grew up on a Midwestern farm, wandering through pastures and woods, racing corn
cobs down the creek, hunting mushrooms, and watching the antics of animals. I was
never bored, because I was always curious about what was going on around me in the
natural world. So it’s not surprising that I grew up to be an introverted adult who loves
being outside. It helps relieve stress and anxiety and improves my focus. Kahlil Gibran’s
quote has become my mantra: “...the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds
long to play with your hair."
Why did you choose a farm setting?
Eight years ago, I read Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s novel about the 1930s dustbowl
(Newbery winner, 1998). Realistic rural stories are important, and I discovered that I had
one to tell. I’d witnessed the trauma that farmers went through during the Farm Crisis of
the 1980s, and wanted readers to know about that time in history.
What parts of the story are in the past or in present, and why?
In the 1980s, Cassie Alkorn is a twelve-year-old fifth generation Iowa farm girl. She loves
her traditional corn/soybean farm, feels the weight of its generational legacy, and will do
anything to save it. Fast forward 34 years, and Cassie struggles to maintain the farm
(that’s now growing organic produce) along with her twelve-year-old daughter, Xyla,
who yearns to find her absentee father and escape the farm and her whirlwind mother.
The two are strikingly alike, especially in their neurodiversity, but can’t resolve their
differences. Much of their emotional conflict stems from Cassie’s refusal to talk about
Xyla’s father, and her life before Xyla was born. Xyla only knows that Cassie’s unspoken
memories leave no room for Xyla’s broken heart.
The themes of family secrets and emotional isolation, along with the healing power of community and friendship, resonate through both timelines, but each timeline deals with key events that affect the Alkorn family’s future.
Why was it important to you to write a main character with ADHD?
Neither character has been specifically diagnosed with ADHD in HeartLand, but it does
run in my family, and we’re all different in how it’s expressed. My mother stayed
organized through lists and calendars. That helps me, too, most of the time. Then
there’s my brother, who might one minute be mowing, then see weeds in the garden
and leave the tractor running, while he pulled the weeds—and then head off to do
something else while the tractor was still idling in the yard. He and I both break things
accidentally, because we are always in a hurry. And focusing on topics that we have no
interest in is a constant challenge.
I see this in my son, too, for whom time loses all meaning when he is hyperfocused on
interests, much like Xyla when she builds with LEGO or repairs clocks (or thinks about time
itself). However, I think of the ability to hyperfocus as a superpower, especially when it
comes to meeting deadlines. I wanted to write about characters that reflect my and my
family’s experiences and likely reflect those of many readers.
What are/were your writing inspirations for this story -- what set you off thinking this was
the story you needed to write?
My original manuscript, inspired by my experience, was set on a 1980s farm. But the
publisher wanted me to make the story contemporary, even though I felt strongly that
the historical events were the focus, so I said no. A few months later, my agent asked if
I would consider adding a contemporary timeline, so I researched current Iowa
agriculture issues.
When I discovered that Iowa is knee-deep in a groundwater pollution, and a health crisis, thanks to industrial farming practices promoted by companies (not small farmers), I felt compelled to tell that story, too. And I’m glad I did, because it also lets me show Xyla and her friend, Alegría, doing research to understand the issues and challenge the adults (and companies) that are making these decisions that poison the land and
water.
So this story is also about instilling hope and a sense of agency, instead of feeling
powerless.
Jilanne Hoffmann has been a zoo train engineer, a waitress, a “real” engineer, a fitness trainer, a tai chi instructor, a freelance writer, and now writes fiction and nonfiction for kids and adults. The dust in her shoes comes from every continent, except the icy one that's drier than the Sahara. She has a degree in engineering and an MFA in Creative Writing, and as a perpetual student, starts many sentences with the words WHAT, WHY, and HOW. Jilanne lives in the Bay Area with her husband, son, and rescue dog named Wrigley.
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