It Rained in Southern California

Last night, I woke to rain on the roof. Rain in Southern California in the summer is almost as rare as snow in So Cal in the winter.

It took me a few seconds to realize what it was. Then the rhythm lulled me back to sleep.

Has anything odd happened lately in your neck of the woods?

xoxo,
Suzanne

What Did You Learn at Camp?

This morning, I followed behind as a counselor led a group of little day-camper boys toward the bathrooms. As I maneuvered around them on my beach walk, I overheard him drop some serious wisdom on those kids.

"You take the first letter of your name and add 'eezy' or 'izzle' to it. Like your name is Brian, so you'd be "Beezy," the camp counselor said.

"Awesome!"said a little voice.

"And you, Will, you'd be Wizzle."

Wizzle said, "Cool!"

"What about me?" Another little voice asked. "Would I be Nizzle?"

"Why yes, yes, you would."

What did you learn at camp?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Have You Ever Locked Your Keys in Your Car?

So, today, while in a rush, I was trying to fit something in my tiny car trunk. I put my keys down to get it situated and then closed the trunk.

As the car alarm beeped its "locked" chime, I gasped. All my keys, including the house and car keys, were locked in the trunk.

Nice work, Suzie.

Thankfully, I had my phone and was able to call a friend. Lesson of the day: Always leave a spare set of keys at your friend's house.

So...are any of you out there as bright as I am? Have any of you ever locked your keys in your trunk?

xoxo,
Suzanne

AWESOME Interview with Write On America

I am so excited! I have done a lot of radio shows for Fantasy Dating, but I just did my first interview about my YA novel, Fingerprints. It's AWESOME!

Please listen to me discuss Fingerprints, the writing process and the perfect storm for abuse with Adam Scull of Write on America.



During the interview, Adam asks me what my best writing advice is. To all you writers, what's your best writing advice?

xoxo,
Suzanne

One for the Books!

I recently published a YA novel, Fingerprints. As a result, I was asked to write an article about my all time, top 10 favorite YA books for a parenting website.

Sounds like an easy task at first, but once I started thinking about it, I realized that weeding out thousands of books to identify my top 10 would be no easy task. I mean, how can I compare a blockbuster award winner like Looking for Alaska to a lesser known and seriously gritty favorite like Amy Reed's Beautiful?

How can I include the beach read fun of Gossip Girl (You know you love her.) on the same list as a haunting classic like Judy Blume's Tiger Eyes?

Then I thought, "Whatever. It's my list."

So, what book or books would you put on an all time favorite list and why?

xoxo,
Suzanne

PS - Yes, that is one of my bookshelves. And yes, I may be the biggest Sarah Dessen fan alive.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

After almost a year hiatus, I'm baaaaaack.

A lot has happened in year. I launched a dating game, took and quit a corporate job, wrote for a whole bunch of websites, and published my YA novel, Fingerprints.

As you can imagine, life has been (and still is) pretty hectic. That said, I can't promise you a question every day, but I can promise you a question every now and then.

So, to kick off Round Two of The Question of the Day, let's keep it simple.

What have you been up to?

xoxo,
Suzanne