To be honest, it's a harder question to answer than I thought it would be. I've never considered myself a "writer". I am sure if you ask my older brother who had the pleasure (or lack thereof) of proofreading my writing in middle school, he would tell you writing wasn't necessarily a strength of mine. I don't even really want to admit how old I was when I finally figured out how to use a comma correctly; it is actually that embarrassing.

After college, I started to make up stories when I was bored, but I never took it seriously. It was just a way to pass time. And then, I fell in love with teaching. I loved it so much that I would make ridiculous deals to get students invested in my class. I'd watch two episodes of Man vs. Wild if every senior could pass the Hamlet test. I would read the Hunger Games and Twilight if the freshmen could go a quarter without failing an assignment. What started out as a way to motivate students ended with me watching some reality television (it was already a guilty pleasure) and reading young adult books. I hadn't really revisited that genre since I was in high school maybe?

Some of the YA books blew me away, and others just made me kind of sad. They lacked character development and were so very predictable. Moreover, I am always saddened when there is a weak female character and young girls love the book. I'm "Team Hermione" over here. That character brought some substance to the table.

Ultimately, wanting to create a female character with depth is what made me start writing. No teenager, male or female, is one dimensional, and for that reason, the characters they read about shouldn't be portrayed that way either. Take a closer look, and you'll find some pretty amazing young adults who defy all of the stereotypes given to teenagers.