Stealthing and the Boyfriend Spin
Stealthing: the act of a male secretly removing a condom during sex without the consent of his partner. What if your boyfriend stealthed you? He’s not a sexual predator. He’s someone you trust and love very much. It’s not your first time together, but it’s the first time THIS has [...]
7 YA Books That Tackle the Teen Drug Scene
How to talk to your teenager about the dangers of drug use When my kids were little, I thought it would be easy to talk with them as teenagers about the dangers of drug use. Now that I have one in college and another in high school, it's complicated. Sure, [...]
I LIKE YOU LIKE THIS novel as a movie
Talk of turning my YA novel, I Like You Like This, into a movie all started when Kirkus Review compared it to a John Hughes film. It was thrilling to be mentioned in the same company. Then fans at book events, as well as family and friends, began to chime [...]
Gen-X Teens and Homosexuality: a generation in the dark
Spoiler alert: this blog explores one of the character’s secrets in my book, I Like You Like This as well as the book’s outcome. We often see in fiction a gay character being bullied, but what if the bully was the one who was gay? Enter Gillian, a mean girl [...]
Teens Today vs. 1980s: the quest to belong
I was sixteen in 1984. Yep, big hair and bad skin. I wasn’t in the popular crowd or an outcast, but somewhere in between. Growing up in an affluent town in Long Island, I assumed that the prettier, popular kids in my high school had it easier than me. Television, [...]
How to Turn a Creative Writing Class Assignment into a Novel
(Or how to succeed by not following directions) I’ve never been good at following instructions. I often like to do my own thing and go with my gut a lot. Though my family can tell you, it doesn’t usually bode well when I attempt to cook. What recipe? Oh, I [...]