Inspired and dog tired....

Hi Everyone, I'm Jax and I'm filling Gwen's shoes today...already, I've dropped the ball. Gosh, it's a little after 4:00 pm on a Friday and I finally made it. (Sorry G.)

I can blame it on one of the Fictionistas (er, Kristen, ahem) for being overworked and lacking sleep....you'll see what I mean when the time comes.

Well, being seriously deprived of R&R, after a discussion with Kristen about inspiration, I thought I'd borrow the topic.

I'm new in the world of YA writing and after discovering so many wonderful authors like Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Rosemary Clements-Moore, etc. etc., I was dying to write these paranormal stories swimming around in my head. After years of listening to Asian folklore from my mother, it was bound to happen. Truth be told, I'm actually a big kid at heart and I still love those Saturday morning cartoons so I knew it was time to create something that I could be proud of...especially, something my younger nieces and nephews could read. I've spent the last four years writing contemporary romance and really enjoyed this genre, however, sometimes you need to grasp your inner youth. Sometimes you need to challenge yourself and work on a new genre that will test your skills as a storyteller....and as a writer. Not only that, nothing is worse on the mind than discovering you're growing old. In my attempt to stop the aging process, I've decided to think like a teen...but a more mature one. Right. :) I already have experience being mistaken for one of my nieces friends so I'm halfway there already.

Inspiration is a funny thing. You find it in the most unlikely of places and sometimes it takes a little nudge. One of the reasons why I tried my hand at writing for young adults was because my niece is super creative and she's only 14. Sometimes I think I'm talking to an adult because her thinking is beyond any teenager I know, and maybe some adults....she's really proud of my writing career and knows I write adult themed storylines so one day she basically said, "I can't wait until I'm 18 to read one of your books. Why don't you write something I can read NOW?" Those words got me thinking and even though I pushed the idea for a long while, I finally bit the bullet and went for it. I guess one of the biggest problem was that I was scared to write YA. After all, I only read those books when I was in middle and elementary school and everyone knows kids aren't made like they used to be. We were so young and naive...so utterly innocent. And because of these reasons, I decided that I wanted to bring back the innocence of this genre. Why not? I'm sure that there are still kids out there longing for the less gritty and more entertainment, an escape that doesn't include too much hard edged issues. And I'm sure parents would appreciate it. Yes, I'm inspired to write these books that won't be banned in schools for being too graphic. I'm going to write with smarts and without insulting the reader's intelligence, but with the same innocent elements in mind....

Thanks for listening!