Goodreads asked Debby Dodds:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Debby Dodds I moved to Lancaster County at the end of elementary school, after moving around quite a bit on the east coast. To get me excited about moving to Lancaster, my mom, a librarian, took me to research the area. I developed a bit of an obsession with the Amish communities there. I've continued to be fascinated by them for many years.

One of the key events that inspired the book occurred when I was 15 years old. I used to go dancing at an under-21 club that attracted teens from about 12 different high schools, and even some HS grads. One guy who often asked me to dance was rather mysterious. It irked me that he never tried to call me for a date even though I’d given him my phone number at his request. Yet he flirted with me. It was weird and drove me nuts. Finally someone introduced me to his cousin, a nice guy a few years older. When I got him to spill the beans, he admitted that this guy’s family had an Old-Order Mennonite faith.
“They don’t even have a phone in their house!” his cousin told me. I was floored.

So I started with the idea of a love affair between two teens who came from different cultures, each having prejudices and taboos about the other.

The ideas of "shunning," and "shame" in both the Amish culture and the mainstream teen culture also emerged as themes I wanted to explore.

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