I actually love writing for teens best. I had such an awful time in my own teen years - I love having the chance to relive them through my fiction.
I had my bad-boy moment in my teens. I'll never do that again. It wasn't pleasant, and I learned my lesson. It was sexy and mysterious, and it's like, 'Look how cool they are,' but it's just not worth it. He was lying to me and accusing me of cheating - but then I realized he was the one cheating.
After graduation, I wanted to work for 'Sassy', which I loved, but it had folded. So I wound up at 'Seventeen' for three years on staff and two as a contributor, and I wrote these great stories that nobody ever believes 'Seventeen' does. Serious stories for teens about social justice issues - gun control, migrant farm workers.
Every time I hear someone making ignorant comments about the supposed 'evils' of homosexuality, I think about the true evil of the high suicide rates among gay and lesbian teens.
Hoping they'd been inspired by the examples of Anne Frank and other teens who had turned negative experiences into something positive by writing about them, I handed out notebooks for my students to journal about their lives. There was some initial resistance. But then the stories poured out of them, full of anger and sadness.
The truth of the matter is, beauty is a specific thing, rare and fleeting. Some of us have it in our teens, 20s and 30s and then lose it; most of us have it not at all. And that's perfectly okay. But lying to yourself that you have it when you don't seems to me simple-minded at best and psychotic at worst.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teens are bullied and ostracized in epidemic proportions. It's disgusting, and it must change.
Preparation for old age should begin not later than one's teens. A life which is empty of purpose until 65 will not suddenly become filled on retirement.
Vampires and teens have a lot in common. Teens have surging hormones, vampires have surging blood lust. Teenagers think they're immortal.
A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn't have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things they never thought possible.