When trying to make sense of my own writing, I like to say I’m trying to make country music for whatever that’s worth. Inspired by The Chicks’ song, “Goodbye Earl” and the seminal 1991 film Thelma and Louise, this is my swing at the female driven revenge ballad. Hell and Back Again is built on the same general premise that any good revenge ballad ought to — two down on their luck gals with their backs against the wall — but I was interested in spinning the formula a little bit.

Both stories I drew inspiration from shared a common framework. First, the dynamic between their protagonists. Two women. One being gutsy and resourceful; and the other being meeker and naive. Second, the actions taken by these women are warranted by the violence men commit against them.

Reacting against these tropes, I aimed to use different materials in building my female driven revenge story. I wanted the dynamic between my two protagonists to be a power struggle between two women who are equally strong willed, just in different directions. One being more reckless and single-minded; and then the other being more observant and calculated. 

Perhaps more than anything, I wanted to engage with this idea that women have to be victimized by a man in order to commit acts of violence. I believe it stems from the tendency to morally objectify women in film. Male protagonists are allowed to be amoral. Women have to be “in the right'' for us to be on their side.

Even with all this on its mind, Hell and Back Again is a love story at its core just like every other country song ever written. It’s about two stubborn women meeting each other in the middle in order to move forward together. What grand romance makes it to the end without any blood spilt anyhow?