Mara Dyer: A True Story?

I don't know how I haven't heard about this before. Since I'm currently reading the second instalment in the Mara Dyer series, and it's freaking amazing (no joke), I stopped over at Michelle Hodkin's website (www.michellehodkin.com) to take a look around. And while I was there, I somehow got redirected to this website: http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Unbecoming-of-Mara-Dyer/Michelle-Hodkin/9781442421769/behind_the_book. 

WOAH. WOAH. WOAH. Back it up. Are you telling me that the plot of this trilogy is based on a true story? A TRUE STORY? Mind = blown. 

Now for anyone who's read the novels, you'll know that this is a big, BIG thing. The events in these novels are so strange and downright creepy that they couldn't possibly be based on fact. And yet, Hodkin suggests that it is. What is based on fact she doesn't specify. It could just be that she met a girl who had been in an accident, and then thought up the rest. But, that article suggests that it is much more than that. And that just blows my mind.

So, fans of the series, or anyone really, what is your take on this? Could it be that Mara Dyer is based on fact, or is it all publicity?