Book Blog Tour: Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 318 pages
Publisher: Penguin Group; Original edition (June 9, 2011)

Book blurb: Willow has spent most of her life as her mother's sidekick in a popular Las Vegas hypnotism show. So when she and her mom move back to their sleepy southern hometown to start over, she thinks she's in for a life of quiet normalcy. Except that her new life turns out to be anything but, when she kinda sorta hypnotizes Quinton, the hottest guy on the football team, to fall madly, deeply, head over heels in love with her. But what started out as an innocent way to make her best friend, Max, jealous soon gets way out of hand, and Willow begins to wonder if the mind - and more importantly, the heart - is something you can really control.

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Guest Post by Jennifer Jabalay

When people find out that CRUSH CONTROL is about hypnosis, the first thing people ask is, "How did you come up with that idea?" quickly followed by, "Did you know much about hypnosis or did you have to do research?"

This is the true story of how I became inspired to write a story about hypnosis: It was the middle of the night. I was up with my daughter who was about one at the time. She was a horrible sleeper and I was quite exhausted. On this particular night, I was rocking her back and forth and with a touch of delirium, I started to say, "You are getting sleepy. SLEEEEEEEEPY" in my best hypnotist voice. Then suddenly it occured to me - that could be a really great topic for a book!

I knew very little about hypnosis. So once I decided this could be a great topic, I booked a trip to Las Vegas to experience a real stage performance! It was quite entertaining :) There is a party scene in Crush Control that was heavily influenced by the Vegas hypnosis show I saw. I did have to tame down the antics a bit to make it appropriate for a teen book.

Much of the hypnosis used in Crush Control is not the stage variety, but rather, closer to a technique called hypnotherapy. I did a tremendous amount of research on this form of hypnosis. It is used to help people break bad habits like smoking or to aid in weight loss, or combatting fears like a fear of flying. I was really surprised and impressed with how much science backs the idea of hypnotherapy. And even though Willow uses her form of hypnotherapy in an immature way, I do believe that hypnotherapy, if used appropriately, is a valuable tool to help people change habits that are hurting or inhibiting them.
Thanks to Jennifer Jabaley.

About the author: 
Born in New York and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Jennifer Jabaley is a graduate of James Madison University and Southern College of Optometry. She began writing in 2006 and tries to manage optometry, writing and motherhood. She lives in Blue Ridge, Georgia with her husband and two children.

For more on Jennifer Jabaley: Website  Blog