I think, so far, 'Jessie' has to be the show I've loved working on most. Coming in at age 12, I was so excited to work on Disney, since it had been my dream as a kid. I also feel like there was such a bond with that cast.
I was slicking my hair back when I was in sixth grade.
I didn't realize I was in an awkward phase when I was in an awkward phase. It was when I was between the ages of 9 and 11. I was homeschooled. Everything I wore was pink and sparkly. And I had an obsession with headbands. I felt like I rocked them, though!
I think that's why I wanted to write about seventh grade. I'd say seventh grade is a time when kids are really exploring a lot and becoming aware of the world around them in a deeper way. And they just have sort of have a wider appreciation of what's happening around them. They are seeing themselves from the outside more than they had before.
When I was 13 or 14, my mother used to gift me books that I was dying to read. Those are my most memorable birthday gifts.
My memories of being nine or ten years old are especially vivid, since this is the time when you have a real sense of who you are - before the self-conscious preteen years start.
I loved everything about being ten, eleven, and twelve years old, and seem to make most of my heroines and heroes that age so I can reexperience all those pitfalls and wonderful discoveries. It helps me to figure out my own life when I write from that eleven year old place!
