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Did you
always want to be a writer?
Well, my earliest
diaries say I wanted to be an actress and a "horseback
rider." But I remember my first grade teacher
telling me I should be a writer when I grew up because I
loved to read and write.
She entered a story I
wrote in a local library writing contest. My story was
called "Tommy the Turtle and Sammy the Snake." I won a
prize! I was psyched to see my name in print in the
newspaper. I still love to see my name in print!
Are your books
based on your own life?
Well, it would have
been nice to have been a best-selling author at 14 like
Jamie in How My Private, Personal Journal,
but…nope. That didn’t happen.
Some of the minor things that happen in my books were
totally taken from my own life. And I remember really
clearly how I felt about things back then. I totally
remember how traumatized I was when I walked into lunch
the first day of school and not seeing any of my friends.
That’s in my books. And a guy I had a huge crush on took
me by surprise and asked me to his prom. I responded
brilliantly: GAH. And my character Maddy in the Limited
Too series, says GAH when her crush talks to her.
But most of what
happens? I try to make it seem real. But… it’s totally
made up.
Did you keep
a journal, too?
Unlike my characters
Jamie and Maddy, I never
kept a real journal. Well, I did write in diaries (I still
have them) but I only wrote a few words on a page. Like,
“Played tennis.” Or “Boring day.” Or I would spend pages
just ranking my crushes. My character, Maddy, in the
Limited Too books ranks hers, too.
But that doesn’t mean
I wasn’t always writing! I wrote notes and letters to my
friends and to pen pals. My twin and I would write notes
to each other that seriously were pages and pages long. I
got snagged a lot passing notes in class. (But I totally
recommend keeping a journal. It can be an amazing way to
get your feelings out.)
What were
your favorite books growing up?
I loved books by
Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, Ellen Conford,
Lois Lowry and Laura Ingalls. I also loved…
* From the
Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
* The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
* Tuck Everlasting
* All-of-a-Kind Family
* Diary of Anne Frank
* Phantom Tollbooth
* Dicey’s Song
* Wrinkle in Time
I’ve always loved to
read, loved libraries, loved bookstores…I read like
crazy…Check out the bottom of this page for books for
girls that I like….
Where did you grow
up?
I
grew up in Albany, New York. My character Jamie “lives”
in that area. I It's verrrrry cold in
the winter. You could jump on a train and in a few
hours you could be in New York City, which was always very
cool. I still keep in touch with some of my friends from
my childhood--some of them go as far back as
kindergarten.
Did you have
brothers or sisters? What was your family like?
I have two sisters,
an identical twin and a younger sister. My twin, Jennifer,
is an author and a mom now, in Saratoga, NY. I have
a younger sister, Amy, who is a financial analyst in Phoenix.
My dad worked in
insurance. He was a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to
America when he was nine. He was born in Poland during
WWII. His father was killed when he was a baby and his
mother was sent to Siberia with her five children. So my
dad spent his childhood in Poland, Siberia, and a
deportation camp in Germany. After the war, my grandmother
took the youngest three kids to America, and settled in
New York. My dad’s older sister and brother went to
Palestine, which became Israel. So I have a lot of
relatives in Israel. A couple years ago we discovered some
cousins in Paris. We didn’t know they had survived the
war.
My mom stayed home
with us until we were in junior high. She's a huge reader
and is the main reason I am, too. Her side of the family
is pretty interesting too. They came over a few boats
after the Mayflower. We have all these books about my
family history on her side of the family, which include wild west
outlaws and a Miss America.
Are
you married? Do you have kids? Do you have a dog?
Yup!
My husband is David. I met him when I was a freshman in
college. He’s a federal prosecutor. I have two young
children, a girl and a boy. And a black and white Springer
Spaniel mix named Kramer.
Where
do you write? Do you write every day?
I
live in Columbus, Ohio. I have an office upstairs in my
house. I’ve only been writing books for a couple years, so
I’m still getting the hang of this. I have two little kids
so I try to wait for them to go to bed to get started. I don’t write every day. I’ll take a little time
off and then I get really focused and go on intensive
writing binges for hours…and hours…and days and days.
Anytime I have
something I think is going somewhere I email it to my
mother and she’ll read it right away. And then she'll call me and
say she loved it. Well, she’s my mom so of course she says
that. But I still want to hear it.
I
want to get published. What advice do you have?
( CLICK HERE FOR ANSWER!)
Will you
write me back?
Yes! Will it be right
away? Sometimes. But sometimes not. Sometimes I have to
focus on writing the books because I have pretty tight
deadlines. But I will! (When I was in fifth grade I wrote
this author, Frank Bonham, a letter. He wrote me back and
we were pen pals for years. And it really meant a lot to
me.) So really! I want to get back to you! I will! I love
hearing from readers. So email me!
What are you
writing next?
Right now I’m writing
the 7th book in the Tuned In series for Limited
Too. Then I’m going to start thinking about my next
novel….
Girls: Want to ask me a
question?
Email me!
Hey!
Want to read a good book?
CLICK HERE
for suggestions!
*************************
P.S. I work with great
people at Dutton, Limited TOO, Random House, William
Morris Agency and Writers
House Literary Agency! Editors don’t get enough thanks so
I’m going to thank people who have edited my books here…
My literary agent’s
assistant Rebecca Sherman
the first fan of PRIVATE, PERSONAL JOURNAL. Her suggestions really shaped
the last part of the book especially! THANKS
REBECCA!!!
My Dutton editor-
Meredith Mundy Wasinger!!!!
And if you love my JOURNAL book cover, that's
Heather Wood!
My Girlwise editor -
Denise Sternad!!
My Tuned In series
tween consultant Leslie Armour!!
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