Ultimate YA

7.  What themes/messages do you want your readers to get out of Something Like Fate?

I want my readers to take away the sense of endless possibility.  There’s so much we don’t yet know about how this world works, so much to discover.  We should always dream big.  I also want my readers to know that soul mates are real.  I think we each have more than one soul mate, these people with whom we share an immediate connection that is undeniable.  Oh, and heartbreak doesn’t last forever.  When you go through your first heartbreak, it seems like you’ll never get over it.  It feels like you’ll be miserable forever.  But that’s not true.  Time heals, we move on, and we fall in love again.  There’s an infinite amount of happiness in the world and everyone deserves to be happy.

8.  If Something Like Fate was made into a motion picture, who would you cast?

I see Lani as a cross between Minka Kelly and Rachel Bilson.  I’d need help with casting the other characters, though!

9.  Do you have any book recommendations for the readers in our group?

Most certainly!  I was honored to blurb The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, which was recently released.  It’s such a beautiful, overwhelming book.  I also loved Looks by Madeleine George and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.  The book that motivated me to write my own was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  Naturally, I highly recommend everything by Laurie Halse Anderson, Blake Nelson, and E. Lockhart.

10.  Do you have any future books you are working on?

Always.  Right now I’m revising my fifth book.  If everything goes according to schedule, it should be released in May 2011.  I’ll be working on my sixth book this fall.

11.  You used to teach physics and earth science at the high school level. What made you want to become a young adult author?

It was a really hard decision to leave teaching.  I knew I wanted to be a science teacher when I was 12 years old, and I never thought I’d be anything else.  When I was about 16, I started thinking seriously about writing a children’s book.  But then I was like, Wait, I’m already going to be a teacher.  I didn’t get the memo that you could have more than one career. 

When I was in grad school, I started writing the first draft of When It Happens.  The story was inspired by my own experiences senior year and it would not leave me alone.  That book had to be written.  This may sound strange, but I just had a Knowing that it would be published.  By the time I started writing my second book, it became obvious that I was too exhausted to be both a teacher and an author.  That’s why I made the decision to resign from teaching.  I loved teaching and being with my kids all day, but as an author I can reach way more kids. 

My purpose is to help teens improve their lives in some way, so being able to reach out to more of them, to help my readers feel less alone, was the right decision for me.  Life is a wild thing.  You never know where it’s going to take you.  Becoming a full-time author was an amazing opportunity that I had to take.  I don’t regret my decision at all – I love my job!

12.    Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Read.  Read a lot.  The more you read, the better your writing will become.  Write about things that make you feel alive.  If you’re passionate about what you’re writing, you will never give up.