Lois Kennedy asked Paula Treick DeBoard:

Hi there! I’m reading The Fragile World (love love loved The Mourning Hours). Fragile is so delightfully authentic. It seems like a lot of writers struggle with making realistic teenage characters, especially in the dialogue department. I used to write fiction, and I know I was terrible at it. I was wondering if that’s an innate quality in your writing, or if it’s something you have to consciously practice?

Paula Treick DeBoard Hi, Lois! Thanks for reading The Mourning Hours and The Fragile World! Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write, but I really take it through several drafts before it sounds authentic to me. Also, I always edit dialogue out loud, so I can "hear" it not just inside my head, but as characters might be saying it. And as for teenagers... in my other life I've been a junior high and high school teacher, so I've spent a lot of time listening to them! :)

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