What are you working on now?
These days (summer of 2024) I’m mainly focused on high-fiving trees and enjoying the summer breeze. When I’m walking around here in New York City, I do this thing where I reach up as I walk by trees so I can touch their leaves. I’m all about the little things, and connecting with urban nature in this simple but powerful way reinforces the practice of daily gratitude. I also like to connect with other plants on the street; you can often find me appreciating flowers around Gramercy Park. But your question was about work. Recently I completed two manuscripts for new projects that are different from the teen novels I usually write. Hoping to have good news to share with you soon!
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Write. Write every day. Carry a small notebook to jot down pieces of conversations you overhear, ideas for story lines, or details about how to improve the piece you're working on that suddenly come to you when you are walking down the street. Inspiration often strikes when you least expect it.
Read. Read everything that interests you. If you're not into the books you have to read for school, find authors you love and read their books too. You will learn the best writing techniques by being a passionate reader. The more you read, the better your writing will become.
How about general life advice?
My YouTube has a series of videos called Missing Class. They’re all about the class I thought was missing when I was in high school where you learn about important things you need to know in real life, like how to become your most amazing empowered self and why you have zero time for haters. In this video on turning dreams into reality, I share how to create your dream life…starting now.
What are some fun facts about you?
Chez from When It Happens is my actual stuffed koala bear I've had forever. I love lamps and resist using overhead lights. I've been a vegetarian since college. I fangirl hardcore over all things related to The Office. I'm into archival scrapbooking because sometimes I forget what happened. City lights attract me like a moth to a flame. When I was a teacher, my collection of Gelly Roll pens I used to grade papers was extensive (which barely rivaled my huge graphic tee collection), mainly consisting of the glitter ones. I’m obsessed with fruit, especially berries and melons. I don't do winter. Last time I drove a car I was 19, back when I had like a dozen pairs of Converse. Also, I rule at Pac-Man. And Skee-Ball. And if you leave me alone with your closet (or kitchen, or really any part of your home), I will organize it.
You can find out more fun facts, including who is on my Top Five Husbands List, in this Epic Author Facts video.
Do you believe in fate?
I’ve always been interested in the concept of fate. The choices we make shape our lives, and I believe the Universe works in powerful ways to support us along our journey. In Something Like Fate, I explore some of the questions I’ve been asking for years. How much does fate control our lives? If we follow one path instead of another, will we still arrive at the same endpoint like in Sliding Doors? How can we explain things like major coincidences, deja vu, and that incredible sense of connection we immediately feel with some people?
You are the architect of your own destiny. This is why creating your ideal life is totally possible, no matter what happened to you. If you are passionate about making your dreams reality, choose actions that inform your goals, and radiate positive energy, fate will open doors of opportunity for you in amazing ways.
Your City Love trilogy features the perspectives of three girls from different backgrounds. Are you like any of them?
Rosanna is the character I related to the most when I was in my teens and 20s. I am also a survivor of abuse and I know what it’s like to live in fear. The scene where Rosanna discovers she has 73 cents in her account happened to me. But in my 30s and beyond, I’ve been doing a lot of work to break free of scarcity and live in abundance. Now I relate mostly to Sadie. We’re both romantics who believe that anything is possible. Darcy is very different…I admire her confidence and fire to pursue what she wants.
What inspired you to become an author?
The only book we had to read for school that I loved was The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. I felt like an outsider in junior high and high school, which is why I was on the same wavelength as Ponyboy and Johnny. They were my people. We read The Outsiders in 7th grade and I was obsessed with the book and the movie. I slept with the book under my pillow, hoping for some magical form of osmosis to transmit the magic from that book through the pillow and into my brain so that I could write a teen novel one day that would help readers the way that book helped me. The Outsiders made me feel less alone and inspired a reason to keep holding on.
What was the first story you ever wrote?
My first story was called “The Carrot and the Rabbit”. It was written when I was in first or second grade. I still have it in my scrapbook. I was inspired by Aesop’s Fables and wanted to write a fable of my own.
The story is about a rabbit who wants to eat a carrot. So the rabbit asks the carrot if he can have a bite. And the carrot’s like, “If you want to have a bite of me, I must have a bite of you.” The rabbit agrees and they decide to meet up at 3:00. At 3:00, the carrot discovers that the rabbit has shown up with a fake rabbit arm for him to eat! Obviously, the carrot finds this completely unacceptable. He tells the rabbit that he can’t have a bite of carrot. The moral is: Be fair to others and they will be fair to you.
Do experiences from real life inspire your writing?
Absolutely! I want my books to feel as real as possible. Inspiration from actual experiences helps to accomplish this. Sometimes I hear a piece of dialogue that I know needs to go in a book. Or something will happen that's just so funny it's obvious I have to include it in some way. There's a scene in Take Me There involving the sloppiest notebook in the world and extra credit. That scene was inspired by actual events that went down in my class when I was teaching. Ideas also come to me in dreams. The main plots of Take Me There and Something Like Fate both revealed themselves to me in dreams.
Wait. You had front row seats to a John Mayer concert?!
Yes and it was even more epic than I imagined it would be. I kept bidding on these front row center tickets for his show at Madison Square Garden and actually won them because I was tenacious AF. This was the only concert I’ve ever experienced without anyone in front of me blocking my view. John Mayer was right there. Legit one of the top ten best experiences of my entire life. I will never forget that magic.
What if I want more Q&A?
You can explore my blog archives! I stopped blogging a few years ago, but the Q&A tag has tons of info on the writing process and the books tags share my journey from writing to publishing each book.