Behind the Scenes: A Glitch in the System

Every writer has one story they loved long before they ever imagined writing one of their own.

Mine was The Girl Who Built a City by O.T. Nelson.

When I was in sixth grade, I checked that book out from my school library so many times that my librarian finally asked, "Is it really taking you this long to read that book?"

"No," I told her. "I just love it."

So I kept reading it.

Again.

And again.

Looking back now, I realize I missed many of the larger political and philosophical ideas woven throughout the novel. I wasn't reading it for those reasons. I was reading it because of Lisa.

She was resourceful.

She was brave.

She didn't wait for someone else to solve the problem.

Even after the adults disappeared, she found ways to care for the people around her and build a community from almost nothing. (Although, in retrospect, I still think she probably should have shared.)

I didn't know it then, but she quietly became the standard by which I judged fictional heroines.

I have spent the rest of my life looking for characters like her.

Eventually, I realized I wanted to write them myself.

Creating Róisín Jade

When I began writing A Glitch in the System, I wasn't interested in writing another story about the loudest student in the room. I wanted to write about  a character with a Scots-Irish ancestry like me. Who loves to read like me. But is growing up today.

I also wanted to write about the student quietly watching everything.

• The one who notices details everyone else misses.
• The one who overthinks conversations long after they're over.
• The one who feels safest with a notebook, a good story, and a few trusted friends.

Ro isn't fearless.

She's socially anxious.

She rehearses conversations before she has them.

She hides behind her hair, her backpack, and the familiar comfort of English class.

Much of that emotional landscape comes from my own high school years.

Like Ro, I found writing much easier than talking. Stories gave me a place to organize thoughts that felt impossible to explain out loud. Even now, I think many writers recognize that feeling—that the page sometimes understands us before other people do.

But I also wanted Ro to demonstrate something important.

Quiet people build communities too.

They simply don't always build them in the center of the room.

Borrowing From Real Life

One of my favorite parts of writing fiction is discovering how seemingly unrelated interests eventually find each other on the page.

The rural high school in A Glitch in the System borrows pieces from the Oklahoma communities I visited as a child (and where my family had lived since shortly after statehood) and from schools where I later taught. The rhythms of small-town life, Friday night football, familiar hallways, and lifelong classmates all come from places that have stayed with me for years.

Ro's close-knit Discord community was inspired by something much closer to home: my own family's Discord server. We use it to share ideas, solve problems, celebrate successes, and stay connected throughout the day. It reminded me that community isn't defined by physical proximity. Sometimes the people who know us best are connected through conversations happening one notification at a time.

The story also reflects my fascination with psychology. Concepts like emotional boundaries, social dynamics, and even the practice of "gray rocking" influenced the way Ro navigates difficult relationships. I wanted her strength to come not from becoming louder than everyone else, but from learning when to engage, when to step back, and how to protect her own peace.

Then there is perfume.

That probably surprises some readers.

While ruminating over this story, I fell headfirst into the wonderfully complicated world of TikTok and YouTube perfume influencers. I even have quite the collection of travel sprays now. What began as simple curiosity quickly became a full-fledged hobby, eventually leading me to start a fragrance blog. Before long, I realized Ro would absolutely notice the invisible ways people leave impressions on one another—not only through words and actions, but through scent. Her observations about perfume became another way of understanding character, identity, and memory.

In hindsight, it seems inevitable that all of these interests would eventually collide in one story.

More Than a High School Story

At first glance, A Glitch in the System might appear to be a story about popularity, football, social media, or high school.

For me, it has always been about something else:

• It's about the invisible roles people begin performing long before they realize they're acting.
• It's about the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and the courage required to rewrite them.
• It's about discovering that kindness can quietly disrupt systems that seem permanent.
• Most of all, it's about community.

This is about not about cliques built on popularity or influence, but the quiet communities built through encouragement, creativity, trust, and shared stories. Those communities often change us in ways we don't recognize until much later.

I saw this play out in my classroom as a teacher, and I wish I could have had that bravery as a teenager.

Looking Ahead

A Glitch in the System is the first of many stories I hope to write featuring thoughtful young people navigating complicated worlds with intelligence, empathy, and curiosity. While each story will stand on its own, they will all share something in common: ordinary teenagers discovering that courage doesn't always look the way we expect.

Sometimes courage looks like speaking up.

Sometimes it looks like showing kindness when everyone else is watching.

And sometimes it looks like opening a blank document and writing the first sentence of a story that only you can tell.