The Misfit Interviews: Jennifer Niven

Hi there Misfit Booknerds!!! It's been a while since I got to interview and author for the blog but this is clearly an amazing time to introduce to you a wonderful author and dear friend, Jennifer Niven!  I'm sure some of you know her already but let's get to know her a lot better.

SOME DEETS

What's your morning ritual? Or are you more of a night owl? 

•  I’m definitely a night owl!

Do you collect anything? 

• I love ABBA, and so I have all sorts of weird ABBA stuff like ABBA clogs and ABBA dolls and ABBA soap and perfume. I also love the golden age of Hollywood, and have a small collection of movie star jewelry (Bette Davis’s earrings, Carole Lombard’s bracelet, Ava Gardner’s cigarette case, which I use to carry my business cards) as well as a vanity set belonging to Jean Harlow and Lana Turner’s alarm clock from her days at MGM.

How tall are you? 

• 5’7”

Your celebrity crush? 

• Jared Padalecki!

(DAMN YES JENNIFER! YAAAS!)

If you could work with an author for a collaboration, who would it be? 

• David Levithan. Not only is he an amazingly brilliant writer, he’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met.

If your name weren't Jennifer, what would it be? (Btw, I really would love to be a Charlie, but my parents love the letter J so. Hahaha) 

• My parents almost named me Larkin, which I’ve always thought was pretty. But I think I’d be something chic and adorably British like Imogen or Clementine.

AUTHOR Q'S

All The Bright Places is such a poignant and heartfelt book. What made you tackle the theme of mental disorders? 

• Thank you! Years ago, I knew and loved a boy, and that boy was bipolar. I witnessed up-close the highs and lows, the Awake and the Asleep, and I saw his daily struggle with the world and with himself. The experience was life changing. Back then, I didn’t talk about it, but it’s important to talk about. I experienced firsthand the stigma associated with mental disorders—both from his perspective and from mine—and I realized that we need to make people feel safe enough to come forward and say, “I have a problem. I need help.” If we don’t talk about suicide or depression or mental illness, how can we expect anyone to reach out for help when they need it most? 

How was your emotional and mental process when writing about Finch? How about with Violet? Who did you love writing best? 

• A young writer asked me recently, “How did you write All the Bright Places without crying over it?” The answer is that I did cry while writing it, but I also knew that it was okay to cry because that meant I was tapping into all of the emotion that was going to help me write what I needed to write. This was true whether I was writing Finch or Violet. But I most enjoyed writing Finch because he was so different from any character I’d ever written before, and also because he arrived so fully formed with such a strong, vivid voice. 

Finch is such an amazing, mysterious character and I couldn't thank you enough for him. Did you ever think that an alternate ending could've happened? 

• While I wanted to create a happier ending for Finch and for Finch and Violet, I knew in my bones that the only ending could be the one I wrote, not just because too many stories about teen mental health are tied up in neat little packages with bows on top, but because it’s the ending I lived with the real-life Finch. It was the story I knew. 

You were on a book tour for the release of All The Bright Places and I love every bit of it! (DO COME TO THE PHILIPPINES!!!) What was your best or most memorable fan encounter? 

• I would LOVE to come to the Philippines!! The book tour really has been wonderful so far, and the highlight for me is meeting readers of the book who have related to it or to Finch in some way. The most memorable of these was meeting a teen in Georgia who has struggled all her life with self-harm, depression, and suicide. She came to an event to tell me that the book had changed her life, that it made her realize she wasn’t alone, and that it made her want to live again. 

Germ Magazine and even EleanorandViolet.com are real websites right now! How do you explain Germ further to those who have read the book, and would like to submit their thoughts or thank you's? 

•  Germ is a magazine for girls—high school and beyond—that celebrates beginnings, futures, and all the amazing and agonizing moments in-between. The website (www.germmagazine.com) was originally created on the pages of the book, when Violet gets an idea for a new web magazine, one that would inspire and entertain, educate and empower, tackling issues big and small, serious and funny, hard and helpful, while also encouraging young writers and artists and other creative types to share their work. After I wrote the first draft of the book, I thought: What if Germ were real? We launched in January 2014 and work on a strictly volunteer basis. At this moment, we have forty-five staff members, most of whom are between the ages of fourteen and twenty-six. We began in Los Angeles, but we now have staff writers from all across the US, as well as England, Hungary, the Ukraine, and the Philippines (!!), and we have readers all over the world. In addition to being a lifestyle magazine, Germ is also a literary magazine, and we welcome both creative writing and journalistic submissions from readers. We would love to hear from you! (For details on how to submit, please visit the Germ site.) 

What advise could you give to those going through their mental disorders? How do they get help? 

• I want readers to know that help is out there, that it gets better, that high school isn’t forever, and that life is long and vast and full of possibility. I want them to know that they would be missed, that they matter, and that there are others in the world who understand their thoughts and feelings and their pain. I want them to realize that suicide is not a solution and that it can’t be undone. It is a permanent “fix” to situations and feelings for which there are help. And I want them to speak up, to tell someone how they’re feeling—a parent, a sibling, a trusted friend or teacher or adult. (For resources on suicide prevention, please see http://www.germmagazine.com/links/.) 

Are you writing anything new right now that has a chance to be published? Some deets please? 

• I’m working on my second YA novel (which will also be published by Random House and Penguin UK). It’s an unconventional love story of a boy who can't remember faces and a very visible girl who feels invisible. It’s about seeing, being seen, and learning to recognize what’s important. It’s about what makes us love someone. 

And finally, what advise could you give aspiring writers, like myself, who wish to write stories that are outstanding like yours, even be at par with yours?

Thank you so, so much Jennifer! I love you and I'm sure your fans and booknerds everywhere love you too! Thank you for sharing these fun facts about you and your experiences! I am sooo excited for your new novel, you have no idea! And I hope you guys too!

Follow Jennifer on Twitter and on Instagram and like her Facebook page! Also don't forget to check out the Germ website and of course, read her beautiful, lovely book! Thank you Misfit booknerds!

{BLOG TOUR} Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Publication: January 29th 2015, Simon and Schuster UK
Format: ARC
Source: Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again! (Thanks Dianne! Special thanks to Michelle of Michelle The Escapist)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Cody and Meg were inseparable. Two peas in a pod. Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

Misfit Review:

I was initially scared to read this book. It was because it talks about suicide. And at that time, I was vulnerable and would find every sad book, tear worthy. With I Was Here, I cried, I wondered and I understood...somehow.

The story begins with Cody receiving an email from her best friend, Meg, who she hasn't seen in a very long time since she started college. It was a suicide note, sent to her days after her said suicide. Cody begins to question everything around her friend's death-dorm-mates, a guy she has been seeing. She has also started to wonder what has going on through Meg's head and why, out of all people, she wasn't aware of anything at all. Things start to take shape as Cody discovers secrets that Meg has been hiding from everyone. And she might need to risk her life to find out what those secrets are.

I Was Here is a mixture of drama and mystery but essentially, Cody's frustration about why it seemed like Meg didn't value her friendship with her. She wonders all throughout the book why her friend did what she did and why she had decided to not tell her what was going on with her. Cody is a likable character as I went through the pages. She's inquisitive and headstrong, however, she does end up clouding her thoughts with jealousy; of why she wasn't told and that people who only met her for such a short amount of time could know so much that she doesn't. Cody is complex but that doesn't hide the fact that she is vulnerable. 

Another character who has showed vulnerability is Ben McCallister, who is a total hottie with a bit of a douchie personality at first, but we draw out a layer of him that we do not know and end up knowing how much of a sweetheart and loyal friend he is. He has a good role in how the story progresses too. Putting a bit of a scene of getting cozy with Ben though kinda through me a tad off. I don't know if it's the theme or it just worked itself on there out. But what I do know, is that Ben, is a great support net. 

Meg's family showed courage throughout the whole process, but you can feel their pain. Reading parts with them in it, hurt me. It was as if I am seeing how my parents would react in a situation like this.

The other characters of the story serve purpose as well in Cody's search for the truth, especially Harry Kang. Oh Harry Kang, I wish there was more of you than the trusted, genius I.T. guy. Maybe in another dimension. Some of the other characters seem to have been put under a blanket after certain pieces that they could offer were extracted, like Tree, whose character I was interested in. Again, in another dimension.

What's so amazing about this new offering from Gayle Forman is the element of mystery that shrouds everyone in this veil that you need to turn over in order to unmask what's under. As a reader, you don't exactly know who to trust. A person comes in, and immediately you think they might know something more, or maybe may even be the reason for Meg's death. Right then and there, we are given the situation, we are given the conflict and we are pulled to go into this quest.

And that's where my problem goes, is when Cody (and myself) reach the part where we get the answer, and I don't know what to feel about it. Empty? Outraged? Confused? Maybe.  But what I do know from reading psychology books and having to take courses is that that's how some people go through with the truth of someone they care deeply's demise. A black hole that sucks up all emotion and leaves someone numb. I've never experienced an extremely tragic loss of a friend or someone I care about through suicide, but I do believe, I felt all of these feelings as I read the book. It somehow gave me an idea of how it will be and how it will pan out if I lose them to it, if I don't get to help. It also made me think, "WHAT ABOUT ME?" 

I don't know if I did not like how it ended or it's just the feeling I get in my gut that I feel I am left with regret, that I could never do anything about it, if I put myself in Cody's shoes. 

I'm sorry if I'm all chatty now, but Gayle Forman just gives me a lot of feelings and revisiting the thoughts of reading the book, definitely opened up some holes. She's just an amazing, inspiring writer, who weaves such heartbreaking stories and fragile characters. However this, to me, is not Gayle's best. But it does send out a wonderful, superb message of holding on to people you love and never letting them go into that darkness. It also serves as a countermeasure for anything that may happen in the future, and I know, as someone who suffers from depression, this book has given me a lot to think about and I think not along Meg's route.

I Was Here is a book that leaves its readers vulnerable and aware of the pains of losing someone and to the challenges of moving on and I think this will be a hit to book lovers everywhere!

Follow the blog tour till February 4th, with reviews from other book bloggers of Pinoy Book Tours! Thank you so much Misfit booknerds!

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as Jane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Title: A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Publication: August 26th 2014, Swoon Reads
Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
Source: The Book Depository (Thanks Aria! And thanks Hazel of Stay Bookish!)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

The distinctive new crowdsourced publishing imprint Swoon Reads proudly presents its first published novel—an irresistibly sweet romance between two college students told from 14 different viewpoints.

The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....

Misfit Review:

We all have that one moment in life when there is actually someone who likes us and it feels great to actually find someone who acknowledges you for who you are, like for your physical appearance or your personality. But there are just some people who could not utter the word "LIKE" or better yet "LOVE" even when it is growing inside of them, waiting to burst out, even when the whole thing is so apparent to others. 

Gabe and Lea like each other... A LOT. But they just couldn't bring themselves to say anything to each other, mostly because of their personalities. Gabe is shy while Lea is timid and insecure. And with all of their staring at each other and constant accidental meet-ups, everyone around them knows what's going on except them and they either want them to be together or not. But either way, all these characters surrounding them are following the growth of their fondness for each other.

What makes A Little Something Different unique, is how it narrates the whole story through 14 perspectives, from classmates to teachers, even from squirrels to benches (which I'm still weirded out by). The characters are very engaging and would give you a grasp of what is going on or whether there is actually anything going to happen between Gabe and Lea. 

Having too many perspectives going about their love story is a bit too overwhelming, if I have to be honest, and some of them were kind of unnecessary. It was like some characters were used to just be fillers and not exactly essentially important characters. Though in a way they are important (what am I even saying?) because they help in bringing the two lovebirds together. It just felt a little too much.

Gabe, seen from the perspective of mainly his older brother and best friend, is sweet and lovable. Even with his problem, he finds a way to charm the readers into loving him. And I fell for it. And I am going through Amazon or Craigslist to find a Gabe, if he is available. Lea, though as sweet and interesting, felt a little annoying and clingy. Like, we know that you like Gabe and all, but it seems like you are expecting waaay too much out of this. Well, looking at it afterwards, I guess that's how some girls really are when they like a guy or maybe it's just part of their personality. Either way, my feelings for Lea were a bit 60/40.

The build up of the romance took long, but enough to hook me as a reader. I liked that there's tension between them as the romance slowly creeps up, allowing the readers to either cheer for Gabe (seriously) or Lea in their struggles to convey their feelings. The story isn't at all complicated. Well, with complicated situations, but definitely easy enough to follow through.

Sandy Hall provides readers with enough doses of sweetness to give a person diabetes, because seriously, the interactions between Lea and Gabe, especially when they end up bumping into each other or fumble for words, are enough to send you into a flurry of feels and off to marshmallow land. Sandy explores the frustrations of love and how there are just people like Lea and Gabe, and that there are people in their lives that might need to give them a little push. 

If A Little Something Different proved to be a favorite of mine, I don't know. However, I did love it because it explored something different indeed, felt like a breath of fresh air and gave me some really note-worthy moments but it leaves me a tad flat in the end. But if you are looking for a really cute read, with cute characters and just something to make you feel good and happy, then you might want to grab a little something different. *winks*

About The Author:

Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads

Teen librarian, newly minted author, guacamole enthusiast, nail polish hoarder.

How's Your Reading Pace?

From the time  I was in high school till I have realized that I am a huge, sociopath bum throughout college, the pace of how I was reading has changed. In high school, I get to read a book out of my school library for a day. We were allowed to have it for seven but I insisted on keeping it for only one day and borrowing a new one the next. High school was a fun time for me and reading. We were tight. It allowed me to openly brag about my #SKILL.

Anyway, cut to college, I entered university and yeah you know the whole story, I noticed that I wasn't reading as fast as I would've wanted. I dunno if it was because I got busy or it's just my pace has changed, even if I stare in front of a book for quite some time.

Do you have that feeling that you are reading too fast that you aren't sucking in what you really want to know? Or you read too slow that your missing out on joining your friends discuss a certain book that's newly released? I think these are all my problems. I was beginning to think that I have lost my proficiency and speed when it came to reading. Then I became a book blogger, and the basic thought, when I started receiving e-ARCs or ARCs themselves, that I had to comply and put up a review on either the same day or earlier. But then things started to change when I thought that all I could think about was how will I write this review while reading rather than actually enjoying the book, because I was in such a hurry to actually be able to say something about it.

That's when I decided to pace myself slower-which made me comfortable-and not worry about how I was reading a book, or if it took longer than I anticipated. Sometimes, I'd only read 10 pages out of a book in a day, maybe more. If I'm busy, there's less of my time dedicated to reading. Thank God for short breaks. Sure, there are books that are really good, that you couldn't really put it down and finish fast but then there are books that need a ton of attention and may need more time to comprehend.

I understand the needs of all booknerds to actually challenge themselves into reading a lot of books, because, heck, it's the best feeling in the world to be able to read a ton and enjoy all the stories out there, but in all sense, it is also important to value a story. Getting to work these two situations to work together is not at all impossible. Again, depends on how you pace yourself.

So tell me, how is your reading pace? Tell me in the comments below how you do! It'll be lovely to hear from you!

Hiatus

Hi there Misfit booknerds? How was your holiday? I hope it was amazing filled with books and whatnots. And I hope you got to spend it with your family and friends!!! I had an amazing time since some of my relatives from Las Vegas came home! WOOHOO!!!

Anyway, after my Christmas greeting, I sort of popped away into an abyss for a while, which included a semi-reading slump, going back to school and trying to think of ways how I could actually blog. Which brings me to my current situation.

Though I welcome myself back into the blogging sphere, I will not be as active as I hope I could be. Chances are, I could only publish 1 to 2 posts a month. I'll be lucky if I could get 3 out. That's selling myself waaaay out there.

And the reason is, I will get really, really busy. First, is coz of my thesis. And the whole, "I'M GONNA BE BUSY SO DON'T EFFIN BOTHER ME" is not setting off yet, but it will very soon. And so, I'm already making it official that I will be not around as much, or I can't review books as early as possible (although I don't really do that, sooooo) and I won't be able to do book tags as much as I want to. Basically, my book blogging life is gonna come to a temporary halt.

Sleep tight blogging life...

A hiatus. A time for educational wandering and excursion. It's gonna be torture. But don't worry. Though I will be in a hiatus, I will still try to post if I could and I would try to sneak in some reading time along with reference books and thesis materials.

For now, I'll try to enjoy this week with much liberty as I can afford it. But I do hope you stay with me misfit booknerds! It's your support that has given me the drive to continue this blog! And maybe when I graduate (God please!), I can go back as strong as ever!

Stacking The Shelves: New Babies

Stacking The Shelves is a feature hosted by Tynga’s Reviews where bloggers share what books (both physical and digital) they received, won, bought, and borrowed.

Hey there Misfit Booknerds! January is upon us and well, did you do a bit of book shopping. I certainly did at least and my mock bookshelf is definitely happy to have these new babies under its wing. 

BOUGHT

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

GIFTED

Summer on The Short Bus by Bethany Crandell (Signed)

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

FOR REVIEW

Noggin by John Corey Whaley

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Thank you so much to Bethany Crandell, life and soul of The Flail Hesitations for the signed copy!!! Twas the best Christmas! I think we still need new band members, coz 2 ain't cutting it. LOL. Also, my biggest thanks to Jamie of The Perpetual Page Turner for also giving me the best Christmas present of Open Road Summer!

Many thanks to Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again and Kai of Amaterasu Reads for lending me Noggin and to HarperCollins International for the e-ARCs! I LOVE YOU!

So that's it for my book haul! Tell me what you got last Christmas or this month in the comments! Also, recommend a book to me if you want! :)

All the best Misfit booknerds!

Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Title: All The Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Publication: January 6th 2015, Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: e-ARC, 400 pages
Source: From the author (THANK YOU JENNIFER!)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | iBooks | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Misfit Review:

I've contemplated for many days how I will actually write this review.  For a week, I'd stare in front of my laptop, wishing from the heaven's above that it'd give me the right words to describe this book. There was a day that I simply lost it and my brothers kept asking why I was crying. I told them it was because of a book and they laughed at me. Even my other relatives. It was a dark day in my house.

All The Bright Places is a story of two polar opposite characters that meet halfway and find solace in each other. Theodore Finch is the kind of voice you don't get to listen to every day. He's remarkably funny, witty and perceptive of so many things that go on in the world that you simply can't pass him off as just the regular character you fall in love with then forget. He's just extraordinary. Finch is special in many ways.  Violet on the other hand is a girl filled with regret, the stain of losing someone so important to her is what's allowed for her time to stop. The existence of Violet Markey is what brings balance to Finch's world and for Violet, Finch is what's brought that ray of light in her dark, closed world. But things just don't end right there.

I seriously don't know how to explain my current feelings towards the book. How it talks about mental disorders and loss is tragically beautiful. I don't think there was a page in the book that I never felt a heavy burden in my heart and told myself I should stop reading out of the sake of saving my poor, poor heart. It has been hurt by so many stories already that adding something so engrossing would completely shatter it... For now, I am currently adding a few band-aids, asking for a few stitches and waiting for the book gods to heal me.

But let's go back to Finch and Violet. The beautiful tension that they have built upon themselves is impeccable. I've laughed, I cried, I've felt I was either Violet or Finch. And when I say that I've felt I was Finch, I mean, it hits very close to home. That dark swirling feeling he's been feeling the whole time, is something I've been going through for a while. I'll talk about that soon enough. Right now, the rawness of Finch's feelings and his actions are engraved in my heart.

And as I was reading All The Bright Places, I kept telling Jennifer how the book slowly tore my heart into a thousand pieces and how every word and moment felt real and not too distant. Jennifer Niven gives readers a new perspective of wandering, finding ones drive again and also that the smallest of demons, could be the greatest adversary. There's a level of honesty that Jennifer brings into her writing that makes the whole thing so special. It comes from an experience, important to her and luckily will be important to the readers that have been affected as well as educated with this literary experience of a masterpiece. Thank you Jennifer, for bringing us Finch and Violet in your most heartfelt and in no way means to break our hearts kind of way. Well, I think the last one doesn't apply. But seriously, from the bottom of my empty, empty heart, going to be filled with other experiences of love and pain, grief and joys, THANK YOU!

I sincerely ask all Misfit booknerds to please, go to your local bookstore and find a copy of this most wonderfully profound and lovely, lovely book. And I will not hide the fact that it is currently, the best contemporary novel I have read in a very long time. Now, I think it's time to go back into my room and cry a reservoir.

P.S. Do read till the end of the book, to all the acknowledgements and the author's note. I know I have. And I know what I will do.

All The Bright Places is a special book that will be marked in your minds and in your hearts leaving you wandering, to fill maybe an emptiness you never know was there, telling you it is good to be awake... It is good to be alive. It hurts to lose people but it is good to move on and move forward, to find the perfect day. To find the brightest place.

P.P.S. You are all lovely.

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

By the time I was ten, I had already written numerous songs, a poem for Parker Stevenson ("If there were a Miss America for men, You would surely win"), two autobiographies (All About Me and My Life in Indiana: I Will Never Be Happy Again), a Christmas story, several picture books (which I illustrated myself) featuring the Doodle Bugs from Outer Space, a play about Laura Ingalls Wilder's sister entitled Blindness Strikes Mary, a series of prison mysteries, a collection of short stories featuring me as the main character (an internationally famous rock star detective), and a partially finished novel about Vietnam. I was also an excellent speller from a very early age.

In 2000, I started writing full-time, and I haven't stopped... I've written eight books (two of those are forthcoming), and when I'm not working on the ninth, I'm contributing to my web magazine, Germ (www.germmagazine.com), thinking up new books, and dabbling in TV. I am always writing.