the past only had whatever power you gave it; life was what you made it and if you wanted something different from what you had, it was up to you to make it happen.

We'd need a miracle," he says. "A real one. Do you think those happen anymore?

I didn't 'decide' to write YA, per se. But every time I thought of a story, it featured characters 15, 16, 17.

Life needed a fast forward button. Because there were days you just don't want to live through, not again, but they kept coming around and you were powerless to stop time or speed it up or do anything to keep from having to face it.

Katy skipped over, her low-rise jeans threatening to fall off her skinny hips. With some girls, that was a sexy look. With Katy, it made you nervous.

Everyone has an identity crisis when they are 16 or 17 years old.

When the remembering was done, the forgetting could begin.