I often say the only difference between adult fiction and young adult fiction is the main character's age. You can pretty much deal with anything you do in adult fiction--from death to war, and anything else you might find in the Great American Novel... except it's fueled by the teen mind. And seeing a story through teen eyes is the key to why I write middle grade and YA fiction.

From the writing standpoint, what's great about having a teen protagonist is that often they have no framework of experience to deal with the messes I put them into. It's all about first times: the first time you feel threatened, the first time you fall in love, the first time you get in real trouble. There is something incredibly alive and daunting about being a teen.  There's a freedom to living your life by gut instinct since you don't have that experience to draw from--it allows you to take risks adults might not. But there’s also the fear of that unknown.

So as a writer, it's like these characters are running through the forest blindfolded: they move on impulse, not logic, and pray they don't run into a tree (but often do).  The fascinating part is seeing how they adjust and what they do to survive. To a writer, innocence fueled by testosterone is a much more exciting prospect than dealing with an adult character who has seen it all. I love getting my young heroes in trouble because nobody ever learns from success, they only learn from failure. It's called growing up.

The other plus about YA lit is because it isn't often not considered serious fiction (mostly from folks doing adult fiction). The pressure is off, so you can actually write the Great American Novel without being a bore about it. I mean, Octavian Nothing? Chains? Looking for Alaska? The Outsiders? Monster? Lizzie Bright? All Great American Novels without the Paparazzi.

So to me, YA means having the freedom to express myself the way a teen might: impulsive, compelling, alive. And if adults don't get it, that's fine too. But more often than not, they do get it and teachers and librarians have been some of my biggest supporters. Some people ask me if I will ever write adult fiction?  Hmm, never say never.  But right now, I am perfectly happy to stay a teen until I turn old and gray.