The kind of life I want is to be a person who would get a personal note every day.

Sometimes you want to hear your own mother's voice.

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.

My first job is to write the characters as full and authentic people as well as I can.

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

I was a 'learn by doing' writer - I never took any formal writing classes. So it took a long time to figure things out and find my voice.

My books have been translated into various languages and sold in other countries, but I never have any contact with the foreign publishers and am so disconnected from that process that it seems almost imaginary. With 'How to Save a Life', I worked closely with Usborne editors and have been involved in the publicity.