I suppose there is an irony of writing and posting a blog encouraging people to get off their computers and get outside. I actually really like my computer(s) and think it has many great applications...

I have been thinking a lot about beginnings of late—the chance that each new poem, story, novel provides to redefine oneself, to reach further. Beginnings are raw, inchoate, nonspecific—and also urge...

For the month of May, I Heart Daily and HarperTeen are giving away 10 sets of these four books:Riding the UniverseBy Gaby TrianaThe Real Real By Emma McLaughlin, Nicola KrausLovestruck Summer By Melis...

For those young adults out there, outgrowing home life and headed for the great wide world without any extended glance back over your shoulder, I thought I’d take a shot at sharing a view from the pa...

I have a confession to make: I am highly resistant to change. And this is especially true for technology. Case in point: I got my first iPod only four weeks ago. I know. I know. It’s ridiculous. I lo...

I haven’t had the best luck with “firsts”. After my first kiss I felt like I’d been assaulted with a wet sponge. My first prom I spent trying to remove the black liner the makeup artist had shellacke...

I have done a lot of dumb things in my life, many in high school. I wonder sometimes why it is that high school is so rich in those sorts of memories. Is it because I remember high school better than...

When I was a teen, I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t have any ideas. I remember telling my mother, “If someone would just tell me what to write about, I could write a book.” But, of course, no on...

as with many fantasy novels, ai ling's (my heroine) story begins at home, amongst the familiar and the normal. but as with many heroes' journeys, she soon finds when she leaves home that what is out ...

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after writing 22 novels, it’s that first sentences are important. I like to hit the ground running – kind of a funny image for a writer, writers being chair-bound pe...