I've been writing since I was a little kid. I was very influenced by Sweet Valley High and Baby-Sitters Club, books where girls hung out with their friends and had fun and got to do things that seemed so cool to me as a pre-tween. I honestly never thought I'd have the guts to share anything I wrote with the world, though, so I didn't actually pursue publication until I was in my mid-twenties!

I think college is such a fun and unique time in life, and I really wanted to write books set there, but it was something traditional publishing just wasn't doing nearly as well as indie authors were. I'm also very interested in the business side of publishing (and I work in publishing in my dayjob as well), so I was excited for the opportunity to learn many more aspects of it. Definitely the right choice for me!

Everything! If I didn't care if anyone read or connected with my books, I'd stick all my fiction in a diary. To have people interact with my work, to have it mean something to them, to hear that it's helped people through tough times or through questioning their sexuality...it's everything.

I'm currently working on a YA Romance called Cool for the Summer about a girl who finally lands her longtime (male) crush only to have her heart thrown into turmoil by the reappearance of her unexpected(ly female) summer fling. Yes, it is absolutely inspired by the Demi Lovato song.

So many! Courtney Summers, Stephanie Kuehn, Corey Haydu, Tiffany Jackson, Sandhya Menon, Riley Redgate, Katherine Locke, the team of Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, Brandy Colbert, Amy Rose Capetta, Courtney Milan, Helen Hoang, Alisha Rai...I shudder to think how many I'm forgetting in this moment. But I also love falling in love with new voices, and I'm very excited about Casey McQuiston, Candice Montgomery, and Tehlor Kay Mejia, to name a few.

I have an unrelated dayjob, plus I do a lot of blogging on the side, and a ton of reading, all of which fall into the realm of publishing somewhere. But completely outside it, my number one occupation is spending time with my husband and toddler.

Pretty sure it was about triplets named Calandra, Diandra, and Sandra who were direct rip-offs of every tween and teen series I loved at the time.

I use apps on my phone so I don't have to carry a device around; it makes any "e-reader" up for grabs, though I primarily use Kindle.

I'm best at social media, so that's what works best for me! Twitter especially.

I love almost all genres within YA, especially contemporary, thrillers, romance, and epic fantasy. Outside of YA, contemporary romance, historical fiction, and thrillers/mysteries are my favorite. I also love to read cookbooks, though I don't use them nearly enough!