Reason 1 Why I Write for Teens

So I overheard one fellow YA author dismissing the teens we write for, and I swear, I wanted to reach over and bop the author on the head. Hard.

Here's why I write for teens... I give you Exhibit A, a message I just received on Facebook:

"I finished reading Girl Overboard a few days ago, and it's by far one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. I'm in love with Syrah! She's just such an amazing character, and I'm totally inspired by her ideas.After reading the book, I decided to make a difference too. Of course I can't do things the Syrah Cheng Way (though Ride for Our Lives was a cool idea!) but I'll still try. I've decided to volunteer for World Vision and try to help the kids in Africa suffering from poverty.Anyway, thanks for being such a great author and writing an inspirational book!"

This reader--this teen reader--took ACTION based on a book. She inhaled the words and exhaled change in the world.

What other group does that with so much enthusiasm and abandon? With so little self-doubt?

THIS is why I love writing for teens. I love their watch-out-world mentality. I am so proud to write YA!

Today I am grateful for teens who read, reflect, and reach out--the readergirlz way!

readergirlz around the world!

Other than writing and procrastinating (I mean, researching) in Shanghai, I also happen to be one of the co-founders of readergirlz, the leading online book community for teens! Along with my divas divine--Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, and Mitali Perkins (all fellow award-winning YA authors)--we've spent the last 18 months or so creating fun literacy programs to promote more teen reading!

Here's what we've cooked up next:

READERGIRLZ PRESENTS “NIGHT BITES” ONLINE AUTHOR CHATS
More than a dozen authors to converge on rgz forum to chat with ravenous teen readers

Sept. 18, 2008 (Seattle, Wash.) – In celebration of Young Adult Library Services Association’s (YALSA’s) Teen Reed Week™, readergirlz (rgz) is excited to present Night Bites, a series of online live chats with an epic lineup of published authors. The chats will take place at the rgz forum, Oct. 13-17, 2008.

Playing off of YALSA’s theme of “Books with Bite,” Night Bites will feature five themed chats designed to appeal to an array of literary tastes. Sure to suck in even the most reluctant teen readers, the complete Night Bites schedule is as follows:

Monday, Oct. 13: Multicultural Bites with authors Coe Booth (TYRELL), An Na (THE FOLD), and rgz diva Mitali Perkins (SECRET KEEPER)

Tuesday, Oct. 14: Verse Bites with rgz diva Lorie Ann Grover (ON POINTE), Stephanie Hemphill (YOUR OWN SYLVIA), and Lisa Ann Sandell (SONG OF THE SPARROW)

Wednesday, Oct. 15: Contemporary Bites with Ally Carter (CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY), rgz diva Justina Chen Headley (NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL), and Maureen Johnson (SUITE SCARLETT)

Thursday, Oct. 16: Fantasy Bites with Holly Black and Ted Naifeh (THE GOOD NEIGHBORS), rgz diva Dia Calhoun (AVIELLE OF RHIA), and Tamora Pierce (MELTING STONES)

Friday, Oct. 17: Gothic Bites with Holly Cupala (A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT), Christopher Golden (SOULLESS), Annette Curtis Klause (BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE), and Mari Mancusi (BOYS THAT BITE).

It all happens at the rgz forum (http://groups.myspace.com/readergirlz) beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific Time (9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 9 a.m. Justina in China Time!), Oct. 13-17.

Watch the Night Bites video at

Click on: www.youtube.com/readergirlz or watch it here (with a huge shout out to Holly Cupala for her brilliant cinematographic skills):



About readergirlz
readergirlz is the foremost online book community for teen girls, led by five critically acclaimed YA authors—Dia Calhoun (Avielle of Rhia), Lorie Ann Grover (On Pointe), Justina Chen Headley (Girl Overboard), and Mitali Perkins (First Daughter: White House Rules). readergirlz is the recipient of a 2007 James Patterson PageTurner Award.

To promote teen literacy and leadership in girls, readergirlz features a different YA novel and corresponding community service project every month. For more information about readergirlz, please visit www.readergirlz.com and www.myspace.com/readergirlz, or contact divas@readergirlz.com.



About YALSA
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, films and audiobooks for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.

What writers do in the name of research... I've gone buildering and rock climbing when I prefer both feet on the ground. I've snowboarded when I'm a skier at heart--a cross-country skier at heart. (The headfirst trip down the mountain, strapped into a toboggan, was unintentional research. So was the reconstructive knee surgery.) I've tromped all over China, interviewed adoption agencies, taken collage classes, and took up geocaching as a new hobby. All in the name of my writing.

And now, I can claim that I've attended my first ever FAIRY AND HUMAN RELATIONS CONGRESS, thanks to a fantasy novel I'm working on.

Yesterday, along with 100 believers in the sunny and hot Methow Valley in Central Washington, I communed with fairies, dragging my daughter with me. We chanted our love for the earth fairies and the water fairies, introduced ourselves by song as we danced in two concentric circles, listened to a workshop leader channel Aphrodite.

Daughter to me, muttered as she skipped in front of me in her circle: Dad would have hated this.

Me, fluttering my hands in the air: Yes, yes, that's why he's in FINANCE, not writing.

Daughter, glaring:

Me, spinning: Aren't you glad you get to go on field trips with me instead of Dad?

We made offerings to the fairies. We watched a healer channel Aphrodite. We listened to fairy music (performed by humans, not fairies). We spoke to wiccans. After a thirty-minute meditation, asking fairies how we humans can be of service to them, we shared our revelations. People heard new fairy songs. Others were given mystical messages.

As for me? I got a new scene for my story.

Being a gifty girl (definition: one who loves to buy little something, somethings for those she loves), I've made it a tradition of bestowing my editor and her editorial assistant with trinkets that symbolize my book and honor our work together.


I realize that I should be packing up for China. After all, the movers are coming in 6 days. Argh! However, procrastination is my strong suit.




So imagine my glee when I trolled my favorite crafting obsession, ETSY, and found a pendant made out of vintage maps, decoupaged on a vintage Scrabble piece! Could a more perfect trinket be had to commemorate my forthcoming NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, which is about a mapmaker's daughter?


I've packaged up the pendants, tied them with my other crafting obsession--my MOO cards, and don't they look cute?!--and shipped them out today. I hope my editors like them and know how much I adore them!

For as much as I embrace all the girl-power, hi-YAH, you-go-grrl spirit, let's be super clear: I am a wimp...when it comes to the paranormal.

Ever since last summer when I stayed in this century-old house for two weeks, I've literally been haunted. Not by a ghost, but a wisp of a concept for a ghost story.

Anyway, who needs to pack for my upcoming move to China? It was time to for some serious procrastination. I mean, research. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, I am a wimp!

Case in point: this is me, cowering behind a pillow as I watched some ghosthunter documentary.

Cue husband: "Ummm...did you happen to forget our HONEYMOON when I rented that windmill in Greece? And that entire night you kept thinking you saw a toga-wearing ghost?"

Translation: "Ummmm...honey, this book just isn't in the cards for you."

He's right as always. I couldn't sleep all night, thinking about that stupid documentary. (Okay, okay, I was *terrified* by that stupid documentary.) Goodbye, ghost story.

I love to hear from my readers. But I have to say, it's nervewracking to hear from people I've interviewed to research my story.

If I had a single muse for GIRL OVERBOARD, it was Sam. He spent a ton of time with me--and opened up his life and read the manuscript for technical accuracy. He was the one who told me the difference between passion (he loved to snowboard) and calling (his purpose in life is to help others, not to snowboard fulltime).

Anyway, Sam just emailed this to me: "I want you to know that my mom loved the book and keeps it on one of her coffee tables as a must read for guests!"

How cute is that? Aren't moms great? Aren't MUSES great?