How did the idea for TWLOHA come about?
To Write Love on Her Arms began as an attempt to tell a story and a way to help my friend Renee. When I met her in February 2006, she was struggling with drug addiction, depression and self-injury. She was denied entry into a treatment center and some friends and I spent the next five days with her. Halfway through that time, I asked her what she thought about telling her story. She surprised me and said that she really loved the idea, that maybe there could be “a purpose for her pain.” After five days, Renee entered treatment and I sat down and wrote a couple of pages. I gave the story the name “To Write Love on Her Arms,” which was essentially a goal –- believing something better for her life. I made a MySpace page so that the story would have a home, and I started selling t-shirts to raise money for Renee’s treatment. The shirts ended up in the hands of some friends that play in bands, so people started seeing the shirts in other places. Meanwhile, friends started telling friends ab
