SARAH MLYNOWSKI

I watch a lot of teen TV and read a lot of YA novels. I also talk to teens whenever I can. There are cultural differences between when I was a teen and now, but emotions - anger, angst, love - are the same.

When you go on vacation with people, you learn a lot about them.

I'm up at 8:30 every morning, and I write from about 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. - with some breaks, of course. I really try to see writing as a career that I turn off when my husband comes home from work. Otherwise, writing could very easily become all-consuming.

My cellphone calls random people.

Even though I knew my way around Facebook, Twitter terrified me. RT? OH? Hootsuite? Huh? My Twitter-savvy friends attempted to explain what a hashtag was, but, still mystified, I signed up for an online Twitter 101 class. Yes. I'm geeky like that.

I started a MySpace teen lit discussion group and invited people to join.

I think that if you write what you love to read, that will be what your audience wants to read, too.

I've always wanted to be a part of that experience of writing to an audience that is just starting to fall in love with books. When I felt that my writing for adults had become cemented, I decided to write a YA series.

I feel more pressure when I'm writing for teens. I'm very aware that my audience is impressionable. Therefore, I'm far more careful about what I say and the language I use.

I always work from an outline.

They write songs about California girls for a reason.

Biological clock? I don't even own a watch.

Yup, believe it: I was born on March 28, yet my name is April.

I wonder-maybe the key is balance. Maybe it's about living in the moment while still keeping your eye on the big picture-on all the pictures.

When I get married I'm going to make the marriage work. Getting married is forever, no matter what my spouse does.

A guy who treats his mom well, treats his wife well.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck chlamydia?

No one was perfect. But we all did the best we could. I guessed you had to forgive when you could, move on when you couldn't, and love your family and friends for who they were instead of punishing them for who they weren't.

Dad? Um, listen. I have kind of a crazy story for you.

Sometimes you don't need lightning to start a fire. Sometimes, it builds on its own.

We're all crazy. What's your specific form of crazy?

I love you: You imagine hearing the words from someone not related to you, someone not your best friend, but when someone you love, someone you dream about, actually says them, it makes your body melt and your breath get caught in your chest.

You can tell a lot about a person not just by their successes, but by how they deal with their setbacks

She said people found running to something easier than running from something.

Just because a relationship ends, it doesn't mean it's not worth having.