What outside influences matter while composing your books? Pop culture, television shows, teen publications, fashion trends perhaps?
I”m not quite as “with it” as I”d like to be, in terms of being up on current pop culture. This became apparent to me a few years ago, when I noticed that I was recognizing fewer and fewer of the groups on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. And I don”t watch very much television. To compensate for my inherent lack of knowledge in this area, I tune in to teen radio stations, look through teen magazines, cruise teen web sites, and keep an eye out for what kids are wearing and how they”re speaking when I go on school visits. I also eavesdrop shamelessly on my 14-year-old daughter and her friends when I”m chauffeuring them around town. And when I”m not sure about whether teens would get certain references, or say certain things, I run them by my daughter and her friends to find out. This article appeared in a previous edition of Children”s Writer”s & Illustrator”s Market. Check out the current edition.
