What inspired the parallel of high school to a fairy tale?
That was kind of how I started the book – even before I knew what else was going to be in it, I knew there would be fairy tales. I love fairy tales, and I try to put little bits and pieces of magic into what I write. I knew that I wanted to make that part of the story – and I do think that high school is kind of like a fairy tale in a lot of ways. What caused you to write young adult fiction as opposed to other genres? I’m not sure I chose it. I think that this was just the story that I wanted to tell and it happened to be a young adult story. I think you have to write the story that you have to tell. Certainly, I was aware of my audience as I wrote it, but I wrote it mostly for myself. I do a lot of work with YA books in my day job, and I think it’s a wonderful genre. I certainly want to continue to write for YA readers. What are your plans for future novels? I have a second book coming out in 2011. I don’t talk about anything I am writing until I know that it’s going to be published.
