Teen Writers Bloc

I’m a busy girl. Generally, between work and writing and family and more work, I can’t afford distractions.

So I steal away reading moments when I can — on the subway, at 4 a.m. when I can’t sleep and can’t write, for five minutes with my chai in the morning. Never for extended periods of time. These days, I don’t have the luxury of picking up a book and reading it from cover to cover without putting it down. And I miss that.

Sometimes, though, it’s hard to resist. And there’s occasionally a book that’s just so riveting, so enrapturing, that it just keeps calling to you, distracting you from the everyday, the mundane, the necessary. And I spent bits and pieces of my Thanksgiving weekend devouring one such book, Jandy Nelson’s delicious, engrossing The Sky Is Everywhere.

The book is truly heart-wrenching. Lennie Walker, clarinet player and awkward kid sister, sees her world shatter when her star sibling, the feisty, fiery Bailey, dies suddenly. But instead of having the expected reaction — mourning in all black silence — the band geek goes boy crazy. She finds herself falling in love for the first time with the knee-melting Joe Fontaine. And oddly, she also finds herself randomly hooking up with her newly-dead-sister’s boyfriend, Toby. Apparently, mourning does strange things to people.

Nelson’s characters are startlingly real, and the language is beautiful — casually composed poems are scattered throughout the book, little missives Lennie scribbles and tosses away on the wind, revealing her inner turmoil to no one and everyone all at once.

This book is peopled with vivid, quirky, uber-memorable characters, and drenched in such realistic emotion, it’s occasionally exhausting. But that’s also what makes it so completely un-put-downable. If you’re a fan of sister stories, gorgeous language, tortured love triangles, sweet romance or quirky characters, this is definitely a must-read.

Popularity: 18%

I love reading YA books. I especially love reading really good YA books. And, even more than that, I love reading really good YA books by graduates of The New School’s Writing for Children program. Lucky for me, Amy Kathleen Ryan’s latest science-fiction novel Glow is one such book.

Set on two massive spaceships barreling through a starless pink nebula, Glow is like Battlestar Galactica for teenagers, sans Cylons. Forty-three years ago, the secular Empyrean and the religious New Horizon left a destroyed, crumbling Earth. Like two futuristic Noah’s Arks, they were stocked with people and animals and rainforests and orchards and schools and all the latest technology and set off for New Earth. But because it takes over ninety years of space travel to get to New Earth, it’s necessary for several generations of these brave pioneers to be born and live nearly their entire lives aboard the ships. The only problem is, there have been some fertility hiccups.

After a few decades of futilely trying to procreate, the Empyrean solved the problem first, and sixteen years ago, Waverly Marshall and Kieran Alden were born. As the oldest children on the Empyrean, they are not only seen by everyone as beacons of hope and promise for the future of humankind, they are also expected by everyone to get married and have children of their own. Kieran is all about it, but Waverly is unsure. She is not ready to be a wife and mother, plus lately she’s been finding herself inexplicably drawn to another boy, Seth Ardvale.

But then crew members of the New Horizon hijack the Empyrean and kidnap all their girls back to their own ship, intent on using them to solve their own fertility problems. The heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat events that follow make Waverly long for the days where her indecision between two boys was her biggest problem.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Bumped, and part Battlestar, Glow is filled with murder, deception, and nonstop action. The characters are layered and complicated, to the point where you never entirely know who to trust. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but Ryan pulls it off quite well. Some of the language might be confusing to some readers — several times throughout the book I found that being a Battlestar Galactica fan worked in my favor, as I was not only familiar with the space-lingo but had a clear picture in my mind of what things like an “air lock” looked like. But readers who don’t know much about the inner workings of spaceships might be confused, as the technical stuff isn’t explained as thoroughly as it could be.

Also, if you’re looking for a steamy romance, this probably isn’t the book for you — Waverly, Kieran, and Seth get separated early on and, though there is that underlying romantic storyline, the teenagers’ fight for survival soon becomes the primary focus of the story.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Glow is its fearlessness in delving into the whole religion issue. The way the two ships treat religion are so drastically different that, once the populations get mixed up, so do people’s religious views. Ryan explores the questions of truth and lies, blind leadership and inner faith, and which aspects of religion are useful and which do more harm than good.

Glow (on sale today) is the first book in Amy Kathleen Ryan’s Sky Chasers series, and the cliff-hanger ending is certain to leave readers wanting more. I, for one, can’t wait for book two to hit shelves next year!

Book cover image courtesy of St. Martin’s Griffin.

Popularity: 26%

So I’m going old school with this one. When I was 14, perusing the shelves of the local Barnes & Noble, as I often did, I came across a teen tome titled “Just Friends,” by Norma Klein.

At that point (and actually, still to this day), I had never read a Klein book besides “Mom, The Wolf Man and Me.” A lot of her canon was way before my time. So I didn’t know that her YA list frequently courted controversy — and, of course, often made the banned books list. A young 14-year-old in the days pre-Internet-everything, I was blissfully unaware.

And this book, “Just Friends,” looked innocent enough. It was about Isabel and Stuart, two smart teenagers who grew up together as pals — and, as usual, had a bit of trouble navigating their relationship once hormones and teen angst kicked in. Isabel had feelings for Stuart, and Stuart was going out with their other friend, Ketti. So, to get on with her life, Isabel hooked up with the gawky, skinny, unappealing but decidedly available-and-interested Gregory. And it’s with him that she experiences some of those awkward teen firsts.

And that was the shocking part. Unlike other teen fare I’d read, Norma Klein wasn’t afraid to go there, the body parts, the confusion, the humiliation. Klein drew her characters in 3D, from the teens facing the trauma of growing up and apart to the adults dealing with their own version of adolescent angst. It was a vivid, satisfying and frequently shocking read. And it made me want to write.

In fact, I do recall some horribly derivative dribble I scribbled back in the day, at all of 14, which may be officially dubbed my first attempt at fiction. I likely have it stashed in one of my high school journals, never to be seen by prying eyes. There it will remain. But when I think of books with bang, Klein’s books, as little as I’ve read of it, surely make the list. In fact, maybe I’ll go back into teen fiction history and hunt down some more of her titles this summer, to see what I missed.

Popularity: 18%

Way back in the day, when I was an intern at the much-missed Teen People magazine, this fun chick named Cara Lynn Shultz was one, too. Our paths crossed again every so often at People, but I didn’t know that, like myself, Cara’s long been toiling away at a novel or two. And now we finally get check out Spellbound, Cara’s first effort. TeenWritersBloc.com caught up with her to chat about paranormal pursuits, marketing yourself and making time to write.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a writer?

I’ve always been a writer/editor, just in a different capacity. I was the Editor-in-Chief of my college newspaper, the Fordham Observer, and after college I worked in magazines as an entertainment journalist and editor. But I didn’t write fiction professionally, just recreationally.

When I was fresh out of college, I used to email my friend Vanessa little stories about characters I came up with who lived in New York. The characters were seniors in college, named Claire and Alex, and Vanessa would read these tales during her commute between Manhattan and the Bronx. Years later, Vanessa moved and she found print-outs of the stories in an old purse, and gave them back to me. I was reminded how much fun I had with these characters, so I took them back out and began playing with them at the end of 2008. So that’s when I “officially” became an author.

Can you give us a quick synopsis of Spellbound? How did you come up with the concept for the book?

After a rough couple of years, Emma Conner moves to New York to live with her aunt and start over at a new school, a posh Upper East Side prep school. As she’s learning to navigate the somewhat shark-infested waters, she finds herself drawn to a classmate, troublemaker Brendan Salinger — and strange things start happening. Streetlamps explode over her head. She has disturbing dreams of herself in another time, and her late brother appears to warn her to stay away from him — or else.

About the concept, I had the characters already, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. So, I just started writing with a rough idea of what I wanted to do. I don’t really write with an outline; I kind of let the characters do what they want to do and see where it goes. I knew I wanted to do something paranormal since personally, I’m drawn to that kind of entertainment. And I knew I wanted a romance, since I was a newlywed and my head was filled with hearts and flowers and lollipops at the time. I’ve always been interested in past lives and reincarnation. So I just kind of put that all together.

Do you think kids and teens are especially interested in fantasy these days?

With fantasy, there’s all this possibility and unpredictability. Anything can happen — and anything usually does. It’s fun and unlimited and I think that’s attractive to teens and adults.

Can you talk a bit about your process, from conception to publication? What does a typical writing day look like?

Spellbound, originally, was a stand-alone book — writing a sequel came later. So, after I got my deal, I tweaked things in the first book to set up a sequel. I have a day job, so I don’t start writing in this capacity until night. I start writing around 8 or 9 p.m., and write until about 2 a.m. I’m a better writer at night; I’ve always been that way. On Fridays and Saturdays, I stay up until about 6 a.m., then sleep until noon, then it’s back to writing. There’s so much that inspires me; for this book, I drew heavily on my own teen experiences — and they’re ones that I think, for the most part, are pretty universal. The mean girls who you persecute you for no reason. The all-consuming crushes. Feeling awkward and out of place.

When I write, I write with my headphones on, so music plays a big part in my writing. It’s a huge influence, actually. As I write, I listen to songs that resonated with me in high school — it helps put me back in the headspace of being a teen — and some more current stuff, things I think my characters would like.

What has your path to publication been like?

My media background highlighted the importance of social media, and I’m really active on Twitter and Facebook. I think I’ve been pretty lucky — the YA community is really supportive, smart and dedicated community, and I’ve gotten to know a fair number of bloggers through Twitter.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever gotten? What advice would you yourself give aspiring authors?

Keep writing. It’s the best advice I’ve gotten, and the advice I’ve give an aspiring author. Even if you don’t have an idea for a novel, start a blog. Start a Twitter feed. Just stay active.

What was your favorite book when you were a kid/teenager? What are you reading now?

When I was a really little kid, I loved the Little House books. As I got older, I was crazy about The Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, Sweet Valley Twins. Then I went through phases: Agatha Christie, Stephen King. Now I’m reading Got Junk? by Tom Acox and Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

What’s next for you writing-wise (and otherwise)?

Right now I’m writing the sequel to Spellbound, Spellcaster, which is due next year.

Thanks Cara! Can’t wait to read it!

Popularity: 20%

Currently, I’m working on two realistic narratives. Both are in the beginning stages and won’t get fleshed out until summer. My stories tend to be about friendship and love. They are also about how teens react to being given once in a lifetime opportunities — do they squander the chance or take full advantage of what’s in front of them? One day, I can only hope to see my books in the amazing company of such wonderful authors as Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

When I write, I usually sit at my desk or on my bed, but I’ve been known to bring notebooks to various Starbucks around the city, too. No matter where I end up though, I need to listen to music in order to block out any background noise that could potentially distract me.  That’s not the only purpose music serves though. We all know that music has the power to inspire. For me, a certain song can spark an idea or trigger a memory that leads to a possible scene or plot point or description. Music influences my emotions in other ways as well. When I’m stressed it relaxes me and refocuses my energy. There’s no way I could write, let alone live well, without it.

Popularity: 22%

As a writer, I’m influenced by almost everything around me. Everything from television shows and films to advertisements to my family and friends and, obviously, other books is reflected in my writing. But I’m not going to talk about books for a change. I think that it’s necessary to look at other mediums as influences.

To write for teens, you have to think like one.

When I was younger, I did not want to be a writer. I wanted to animate. I would sit in front of the TV and watch classic Looney Tunes cartoons and emulate the wacky actions of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny (most notably, Rabbit Fire, the infamous Rabbit Season, Duck Season! episode). I would sit in awe in dark movie theaters at the latest Disney masterpiece and fall in and out of love, all in under ninety minutes. I guess you could say that animation was my first real love. My first real attempt at creating a book was actually a picture book when I was in elementary school. I had a cast of characters that I would doodle on the edges of my notebooks endlessly and I would spend hours on the floor of my living room writing adventurous stories pretending (and hoping unrealistically) that my creations would actually pop out of the lined pages and into my world.

But I grew up, and I realized that sketching only got me so far and my dreams of animating were hopelessly dashed by a barbaric high school art teacher who told me that my painting skills “sucked,” cementing the notion in my head that those who can’t do, teach. So, I latched onto other mediums. I grew up watching the original Beverly Hills, 90210. My mother wouldn’t protest when I would sit down on the couch next to her as she watched the deliciously salacious soap every Wednesday night. She thought I didn’t understand what sex was, and she was right, I didn’t realize how skanky the characters were back then.

In any event, from there I graduated to Dawson’s Creek. Now that was a show that really got to the heart of me. It was over-written, slow-paced, melodramatic, and over-written. (Did I already say that? Regardless, it bears repeating.) Sure, the dialogue was peppered with SAT words and sounded more like the teenagers had right-mouse-click-Thesaurus kind of conversations than realistic ones. But the emotions were dead-on. As I type this, I’m currently re-watching my Creek DVDs, and smack in the middle of the fifth season, and there are so many experiences that I didn’t understand back when it first aired (seeing as I was in my late middle school/early high school years at the end of its run). But now that I’m watching again, I realize that the situations were true to life. One of TVs best romances lived and breathed on the Creek, when Pacey (Joshua Jackson) developed intense feelings for Joey (Katie Holmes). Spanning the length of an entire season, from when they first start becoming friends to when Joey finally expresses her own undeniable love, it’s one of the most realistic, heart-wrenching, and riveting couplings on a teen drama. Ever. Not to mention the incredibly gut-wrenching Jack storyline, and the fact that this show aired the first gay kiss on network television. I can say that this show has definitely influenced me and informed my experience as a teen. It helps me recall a time in my life that sometimes I forget.

Dawson’s Creek started my love affair with the teen drama. When it ended in 2003, I wasn’t sure what I would watch religiously, especially considering Friends only had one season left. And then, it came. The O.C. Laugh, scoff if you must, but The O.C. was one of the best written shows on television and throughout its brief four-season run had some of the wittiest dialogue, most influential ideas, and showcased amazing music and brought a lot of indie bands into the spotlight. Think about this: without The O.C., we never would have had Chrismukkah, Laguna Beach, The Hills or The Real Housewives shows, and I’m sure countless other cultural phenomena. Perhaps the acting wasn’t the greatest (Mischa Barton), but the storylines were gripping and definitely the freshest. It’s definitely one of my favorite shows, and battles Friends in my head for the top spot year after year.

In keeping with the newer teen dramas, I guess I should talk about One Tree Hill, which started out with some promise, but quickly lost steam after its fourth season. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the worst teen shows ever to be produced, but briefly, it was popular. I stopped watching years ago because it caused me endless amounts of pain to keep watching.

Now, one of my guiltiest pleasures is Gossip Girl. I haven’t read the books (not going to lie, I’m ashamed of the potential of getting caught reading one of those novels), but the television show is teenage crack cocaine. The deviousness and duplicitous nature of characters like Chuck and Blair, the good boy writer Dan, the Of-the-Moment It Girl Serena, the pretty playboy Nate: it’s a great recipe for drama week after week. Lately, the show has taken a page out of the Dawson’s Creek playbook, and put two unlikely (yet totally compatible) characters (Dan and Blair) together. Over the last few episodes, I’ve gotten strong Joey/Pacey type vibes, which has done wonders to quench my thirst for good teen drama. Another show that has entered Guilty Pleasure status is the new incarnation of 90210, mostly for its note-worthy coming out storyline with macho guy’s guy Teddy (played by Trevor Donovan).

Speaking of gay characters, one of my favorite TV shows right now is Glee. The latest episodes of which have focused greatly on it’s gay characters, especially Blaine (Darren Criss) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) in one of the most warming moments I can remember. Not to mention one of the most emotional moments I can remember between characters, Santana and Brittany, which is the beginning of a storyline for Santana that I hope explores her own coming out. The moment I’m writing about is when guest star Gwyneh Paltrow sings a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide in an attempt for Santana to explain her feelings to a clueless Brittany. Watching Santana break down into tears while listening to Stevie Nicks lyrics and hearing Gwyneth Paltrow’s surprisingly fitting voice is one of those television moments that just clicks in every way emotionally.

All of these guilty pleasure teen dramas have done wonders for my writing. They get me to remember a time and place that have a tendency to get lost amid Adult Decisions and the Real World (not a reference to the MTV show).

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: “Damn, this guy is crazy obsessed with television shows.” And, well, you’re partly right. But it’s not just TV that influences me. During my tenure at Ithaca College, while I was working towards my bachelors degree in creative writing (aka the most nonprofessional degree ever), I minored in art history. One of the best, most interesting classes I took focused in large part on the visual landscape in media and advertisements. One of my favorite units focused heavily on ads from United Colors of Benetton. Again, I’m sure you’re probably thinking: “This guy is crazy…what does a horrifying ad about AIDS for a clothing company have to do with writing in the teen landscape?” But it’s the provocative nature of these ads that gets people talking. It’s the unafraid nature of them that starts conversation. It’s the same amount of gall that I want to incorporate in my writing, because without conversation, what do we have?

Good advertisements get us thinking, they provoke us, they explain a little bit about the human experience, and the ones geared at teens are what drive the current teen market. Teens respond to ads, and that’s why the aggressive and suggestive ads for current teens shows like The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl and even True Blood are racy and attention grabbing and geared toward that teen market.

To get a teen to pay attention, you have to think like one.

Exposure is one of the main reasons why I write. Whether its exposing a lifestyle, or exposing a character to their own desires and their own calling, or exposing your characters to new ideas and new complications, I write to make sense of everything. I watch TV shows in order to make sense of my own experiences. I listen to music in order to un-complicate my life and to put a soundtrack and meaning behind what I’ve gone through. I watch movies to escape. I look at advertisements to challenge me. And I write for teens to make sense of it all. I incorporates bits and pieces of what I’ve seen or heard or experienced into my writing, because that’s what’s it all about, connecting with teens and connecting the teen experience and making sense of it all. Of course I read endless amounts of books, but sometimes we, as writers, forget that there is a whole world out there outside of the written word that has sprung from the written word. A world that tries time and time again to encapsulate experiences, whether they be individual or universal. I’m here to remind everyone of the media influence. And I write for teens to be involved in that conversation.

Photo Credit: Freecelebrityimages.com, The WB, Benneton Group, Fox

Popularity: 24%

Approaching teen romance is like approaching a real relationship. Flirting with the idea, at first, and getting to know your characters and what makes their hearts beat is most important. Even the most epic of romance tales begin with the characters not knowing more than a name (and if you’re me, the characters go at least fifty pages with nicknames for each other before finding out their real names). Like real-life relationships, the narrative has to grow with the characters organically. Nothing can seem too forced or too rushed, even though if you look at the span of most teen books, it’s hardly enough time to realistically fall in love. But, I digress…

In my personal writing experience, it’s hard to get it right. Why? Because for me, I tend to write in first person. And like real life, you only really know what YOUR character is thinking. Sure, as acting-Gods, we as writers know how every single one of our characters tick, but if you’re like me and write in first person, you can’t show thought processes of any other characters but the protagonist. So it’s more or less like being in the dark without actually being in the dark (if that makes any sort of sense). It’s like being back at square-one at the start of a real relationship.

The books I respond to most are grounded in that realism. They explore the innocence of crushes, the fear of that moment before the first kiss, the repercussions afterward, and the fears and struggles behind making a relationship work. It’s easy to get lost in the ideal romanticism of some teen love stories, where the hunky football star falls for the gawky, nerdy girl underdog and they embark on some totally unrealistic love affair, especially during February, the month of Hallmark-induced store-bought love. Unfortunately, I haven’t read very many YA novels that have accurately depicted what I’ve gone through in my experiences. I’ll take the realism of a heart wrenching break-up scene over “They Lived Happily Ever After” any day of the week. And that’s exactly what I’m working on doing right now. My challenges lie in getting the experiences of first “love” and heartbreak right, all while weaving in the idea of hope throughout the sadness. Because that’s what life and love is all about, right? Hope.

Popularity: 23%

My friend Janine is addicted to Barbara Cartland novels. Personally, I had never read (or for that matter heard of) Barbara Cartland and her romance legacy, but it turns out that she is HUGE.

Janine’s BC-addiction grew slowly.  It started with bidding for a few books on eBay, and buying them if they cost less than a beer. But soon her BC collection began to take over her life. She confessed that she had run out of room for them at home and was using her office cabinet for the rest — you see, she also has a ridiculous count of Agatha Christie books. And when she started writing things like “Well, actually my count has gone up. It’s now around 120. Although that sounds like a lot, it’s barely 1/7th of the 723 or whatever she wrote.” and “BC’s are like crack. You just can’t go back, or forget about it,” I had to find out what the fuss was all about.

A great link I found on Janine’s blog shared some interesting insights on what makes Barbara Cartland so popular among teen readers. She has a huge fan following and, according to Wikipedia, is the seventh most translated author in the world. The article had some hilarious observations and also made BC’s technique sound very simple. For instance, some of the points said the heroine must:

1. Be a virgin.
2. Have a tiny, heart-shaped face, large eyes, small hands.
3. Always marry up.

Well, even though the article makes BC’s technique sound simple, my own attempts at teen romance have been rather unsuccessful. In fact, it is one of the most challenging genres to write for teens, standing on that explosive line between too cheesy and too exposed.

Having said that, I must confess that as a teen, I was addicted to the cheesiest teen romance novels; I read every single Sweet Valley High book and almost everything I could find by Judy Blume, including Tiger Eyes, which I reread recently and didn’t really feel the love that much.

But I found my true love in the pages of Archie Comics. Betty and Veronica’s never-ending war over Archie Andrews was all the masala and cheesiness I needed. Who will he choose? How could he choose? What will Veronica do next to outdo Betty? It didn’t matter, because the entire crew of Riverdale High had “stolen my heart.” And even though I didn’t date until much later, sharing a big milkshake with a three-way-straw seemed like the most fun date ever.

Popularity: 22%

Ah, high school romance: I remember standing on the beach at Seaside Park the Sunday night after my senior prom. Four or five of my girlfriends stood in a circle, wrapped in blankets and their boyfriend’s arms. Me, I was just wrapped in a blanket. My friend Katie took pity on me and tried to pull me into their blanket, and kept kissing my cheeks. It was a funny and lovely, but I didn’t really need the pity.

I was certainly the coldest person on that beach, but I may have also been the happiest. My brain was on my race the next day and Notre Dame in a few months, not a sticky, gushy breakup with some pimply boy. I had a perfectly adequate prom date. He was my friend, and he had left earlier in the day. The only part of me that was longing for a partner on that beach was my goosebumps.

Sure, my middle school and early high school years were full of unrequited crushes and pathetic attempts at puppy love, but at by the time I had my first actually living/breathing boyfriend sophomore year, my mind was focused elsewhere. I enjoyed the conversations in school buses or the back of choir practice, chatting with my girlfriends about the tone in which Mr. Crush said her name or the exact spot in which Mr. Crush touched her shoulder…but I could never make myself the center of those conversations.

Somehow I had figured something out: Mr. Crush had no more clue about the impetus behind his own actions than anyone else did. Teenaged boys — similar to teenaged girls — have no idea what they’re doing. We were all exploring unknown terrain. It didn’t stop me from having crushes, but it did stop me from really caring, for a few years at least.

And as someone who has spent most of her adult life around teenaged boys, I have to say I think my teenaged-self was correct.

This is the problem I have with many novels about teen romance: the girls often seem to fall for the guy who has it all pulled together. He is aggressor in the relationship, and he knows exactly what he wants. Often, he wants the wrong thing, but he is rarely confused and grasping at straws. These can be beautiful stories with a lot of merit, but they don’t ring true to the teenaged boys from my past, or present.

One teen novel that hits this teenaged confusion dead on is Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things. The book opens with a very awkward groping scene between Virginia and Froggy. Neither of them are even decided on their opinion of the other before they end up in Virginia’s bedroom with her shirt pushed up to her collar bone. When the story progresses, larger concerns dominate Virginia’s thoughts and, in the end, she has to apologize to Froggy for making assumptions about him. It is not only an atypical love story, it rings true to the confused actions of a teenaged boy.

Popularity: 20%

My teenaged years were a romantic mess. Unrequited was the theme here. If I liked a boy, he didn’t like me. If he liked me, I didn’t like him. It seemed the math never added up. (Perhaps because I was a writer?) And then there were a few choice romantic triangles that really brought the drama.

Maybe my expectations were too high. After all, I grew up dreaming of charming, disarming and utterly swoon-worthy friends-turned-more, like Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables or the beloved Laurie in Little Women. They were hardly Prince Charming, but the appeal was breathtaking because of the small moments they’d shared with the heroines, sharing their stories and their lives. You know, these were the types of love stories — tortured and unfinished as they might have ended up — that had real emotional depth to them, because the parties involved really knew each other. Where the anticipation finally boiled over with that first kiss. Where, perhaps, things didn’t end up working out in the end, but the journey was cathartic nonetheless.

A lot to expect from a middle school or high school romance. Especially when much of the intrigue then came from the he-said-she-said scandal of it all, the thrill of never quite knowing what was real. And then the sad realization that, in the end, it’s just high school, and none of it was real.

When I first met my husband, refreshingly, we were friends first. Sure, we were separated by 3,000 miles, but we grew close through words, endless emails, phone calls, even late night IM chats when I was at work at 3 a.m., waiting for my final edits. So when we finally met, there were those sky high expectations, that “will he kiss me” angst (he did, though it took some prompting), the depth that came with all that time invested already. And for me, real life romance worked out better than any I’ve ever found in a teen novel. And as modern-day as our story is, it’s still got that old-fashioned element, the one that’s so hard to find these days. So that’s the kind of romance that I’d like to write. One that stays with you because of the small moments.

Popularity: 23%