INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A University of Indianapolis professor recently honored for her work is inspiring students to write even through the rough patches of the creative process.

Rebecca McKanna, an English professor at UIndy, won the 2024 Indiana Authors Award for genre fiction for her book, “Don’t Forget the Girl.”

She joined Daybreak on Monday to discuss the honor and share the storybuilding process behind the novel.

Synopsis: “Don’t Forget the Girl”

Twelve years ago, 18-year-old University of Iowa freshman Abby Hartmann disappeared. Now, Jon Allan Blue, the serial killer suspected of her murder, is about to be executed.

Abby’s best friends, Bree and Chelsea, watch as Abby’s memory is unearthed and overshadowed by Blue and his flashier crimes. The friends, estranged in the wake of Abby’s disappearance, and suffering from years of unvoiced resentments, reunite when a high-profile podcast dedicates its next season to Blue’s murders.

McKanna says she has always been interested in true crime, and her inspiration for the book came when she was researching Ted Bundy.

“I researched (true crime) a lot and I was looking into Ted Bundy, particularly one of his victims, and I could not find anything about her. It really upset me that we know everything about Ted Bundy. We know his dog’s name if we watch some of these true crime documentaries, but the victims are just sort of forgotten. So, I wanted to write something that was still a mystery, still a thriller, but really honored the victims,”  McKanna said. 

She tells her students that “the book is made in revision,” and encourages them to begin writing and not be discouraged with rewriting.

“I ask them ‘What are the stories that only they can tell?’ And so I think when you’re writing something that’s really meaningful to you, it’s motivating. Just being able to give them feedback on their work and kind of see their creativity keeps me feeling really creative,” McKanna said.

The Indiana Authors Awards are given by Indiana Humanities and were established in 2009 through the vision and generosity of Eugene and Marilyn Glick. The awards honor the contributions of Hoosier authors to the literary landscape in Indiana and across the nation. 

“It was a huge honor. I mean, we have so many accomplished and talented Indiana authors and Maurice Broaddus was in my category. I’m a huge fan of him. To be in that category in the first place was awesome, and then to win was just a huge honor,” McKanna said.