I'd worked on a series of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul books called The Real Deal for HCI books, which featured essays and poems from teens.Finding the right authors for the series has been no easy feat, mostly because I'm looking for a perfect blend of a teen girl with an interesting story or hook, fantastic writing talent, and the confidence to commit to writing a 30,000+ word book in a matter of months. It's a huge commitment and I recognize that, so the fit has to be there from all these different angles.

I think it can be incredibly powerful for a teen to be able to put their story out there for others to soak in, learn from, relate to. In some ways, it validates their experience, which for teens (or for anybody, really) is a pretty huge deal.

Letting go is the hardest part... but you have to look at it through their eyes and realize the pain you caused them is that same pain you feel now.

We have a society that is going through life not talking about what's really hard about life and trying to pretend like everything's great when it's not. As a result, people feel more and more isolated.

My goal in writing for teens and tweens is to help my audience feel inspired and empowered today, to find their voice today, to believe that they can truly design the life of their dreams...today. I mean seriously...why wait?

The thing that got me through the worst of my teen years was running and the piano.

It may not always feel wonderful. but you're out there doing it. You're running while others are just walking. Or sitting around. I mean, come on - you're out there running, for goodness sake. You're to be taken seriously.