My youth-o-meters

So, believe it or not, I'm actually in the mood to post again. Who would'a thunk it? That doesn't usually happen two days in a row.

I wanted to share something that makes me so excited about my work in progress. When you write young adult stories, you may wonder how well your story rings true with the youth out there. I have a built in youth-o-meter right in my house. My fourteen yr. old and my 10 yr old are always on hand to give advice.

My first book, The Eye of Tanub, which will be published in 2011 was written in a month and a half. I KNOW! Wild! I've never written like that before. It felt like the words poured from my fingers, like I was possessed and someone else was writing the story. Of course, there has been tons of revision and re-writing but the story was started and finished at breakneck speed.

Jake, my fourteen yr old would run in the door every day after school yelling, "Did you write any more!" He'd run to the computer and stare at the screen to soak in all that new adventure. I have to say, it was a fabulous feeling, especially since Jake doesn't like to read.

Now Seth is doing the same thing with this new story I'm writing. I've titled it "The Dunce Academy." He runs in and hurries to read every word. He's a little young to make corrections but Jake gets those. It just feels good to have an audience and to have them riveted to these crazy thoughts in my head. I love that they even interested.