The life of a writer isn't always easy, but penning YA novels definitely has its perks. Below, Simone Elkeles --- author of several novels, including PERFECT CHEMISTRY and its sequel RULES OF ATTRACTION --- shares what she loves best about writing for teens.
10. To piss off my high school freshman English teacher (Mr. Dyas) and my freshman college professor (forgot that witch’s name) who both had the audacity to give me a big, fat C as a final grade in their English classes.
9. I get to shmooze with other awesome teen authors like Ally Carter, Alyson Noel, and Melissa Marr.
8. I get to create the perfect guy... on paper. And no, my heroes are NOT based off of my husband even though I tell my friends and neighbors otherwise.
7. It beats doing laundry (did I mention I hate doing laundry?). Being an author lets me say, “I was on deadline and couldn’t do (fill in chore).”
6. It keeps me young. I get to live my fantasy teen years over and over again without actually going back in time.
5. Research. I get to travel all over the world doing research for my books. I got certified in pistol shooting, I went white water rafting and mountain climbing in Colorado, I interviewed boys in juvie, rode in gang territory with the NGS division in Chicago (narcotics, gangs, sex) with a bulletproof vest, interviewed gang members, etc. Getting research material for a book is definitely interesting! (I think I need to write a book on Hawaii so I can travel there!)
4. My kids think I’m a complete dork (my son recently asked me to “stay in the car” to pick him up from camp instead of meeting him at the front door because I’m not cool), but my fans remind me that I’m not the loser my kids think I am!
3. I created a book trailer (see below) with two hot guys --- Alexander F. Rodriguez, who was Katy Perry’s groom in her Hot N Cold music video, played Alex Fuentes from my book PERFECT CHEMISTRY and hottie Giancarlo Vidrio played his brother Carlos Fuentes. Seeing my characters come alive as I pictured them was the most incredible experience. I seriously cried after we shot the last scene.
2. You can’t beat teen fans! They’re just so...passionate and totally awesome. I get the best emails and letter from fans. They inspire me to write more books.
1. I get to be a guest blogger on Teenreads.com!
-- Simone Elkeles
