Jesse Teller

I grew up in Milwaukee, WI, in a very poor neighborhood. We had a neighborhood gang and rival gangs in the area. I learned very quickly that there were things you did and wore, and things you didn't. I still remember the first time I learned a gang sign and how it made me feel. I felt as though I was a part of something. It made me feel safe, made me feel powerful. That mentality and culture influenced the work I do today. There are shades of violence in everything I write, a mythology to the places and people who live there that is very reminiscent of gang reputations and rumor. Back then, we knew all the members and heard the things they had done. We were proud of the gang that protected us. I look back on that now and see how terrible it was. Violence is not a thing to look up to, or in some cases worship, but the idea of a dark hero keeping the weak safe never left me.

I started writing when I was in fifth grade, not sure of the age. I would do the math, but I'm no good at that. Writing was an idea I had never had before Mr. Olsen gave me my first assignment. Thought you needed permission to write a story before that—never imagined it was a thing I could just do. See, from the age of three, I was obsessed with stories. I used to pretend my stories were dreams so I had an excuse to tell them. I would say, "I had a dream last night. Wanna hear it?" then go on and on with a rolling story for half an hour. I think they knew dreams don't work like that, but they never said anything. Writing became a viable way of telling those stories.