The last of the bunch

Today is my turn to introduce myself. I’m last on the list, but hopefully you’re still hanging on waiting for us to get to the interesting stuff.

As Tracy mentioned, I’m a native Californian just like Tess, currently living in San Diego. I grew up in Los Angeles and I will always call it home. Sometimes I miss LA life, but then I remember the never-ending traffic and smog so thick you can taste it, which makes me appreciate my life in SD. Just like everyone in LA (or so it seems), I ended up working in the entertainment industry and still find myself there six years later.

After devouring every book out there (I read two books a week), I decided to try my hand at writing one myself. My outlet was always drawing and painting growing up, leading me to an art degree. I find that writing has a lot of the same processes as painting. Instead of telling a story and conjuring an emotion through shape and color, I now use words.

I’ve come to not only love the words and language that make up my favorite books but understand the struggles and hardships of the authors that are putting themselves out to the public. Really, that’s what writing is to me, letting someone see you with your guard down through your characters. I put my experiences and observations into my writing and I hope that shows. YA books aren’t afraid to tackle the tough topics in teen’s lives, as well as every day situations that aren’t always the “cool” thing to say or do. That’s why I was drawn to writing YA and am proud that I do.

Outside of writing and reading any book I can get my hands on--I think my TBR list is now in triple digits--my other great love is hockey. Name a NHL team and I can talk your ear off about every player and why they are a good or not. You’d think I was the one from Canada, eh?

We’ll have a great time on this blog and we can’t wait to get started. There’s sure to be great debates when discussing topics from our daily lives, book reviews, author interviews and of course, just gabbing about writing and its process. Don’t be afraid to comment if you don’t agree with us or do for that matter. This blog is about touching on tough topics and getting your voice heard.

Until next time…