Melissa West

Those of you who read my blog know that I went through a major agent-suggested rewrite of my latest novel. It was painful, I won't lie. And after I completed the revision and sent it to the agents waiting on it, I decided to take a break from writing. In fact, I decided to take a month off -- no querying, no writing, nothing. I felt just...exhausted. So my husband and I decided to take a trip to the very remote Cape San Blas. See photo below: . . By the third day of the trip, I was itching to write. I have three ideas swimming in my mind, and I'm trying to decide which to invest in. The first is a YA thriller with sci-fi elements. The second is a YA dark magical realism. And the third is something of a YA spooky ghost story. I was prepared to take my time deciding and researching, but by giving myself the freedom to step away, I allowed my love of writing to resurface. Now I'm dying to dig in. I'm a fast writer--too fast at times--but I plan to write out a summar...

Much delay in blogging thanks to a massive rewrite, but I am now done. Woohoo! So onto today’s post -- yesterday I was thinking about why I write YA and came to a really embarrassing conclusion. Do you remember when you were in high school and had your first real crush? Do you remember how it felt like the entire world was spinning when he (or she) would talk to you? Do you remember the intensity of your first kiss? That’s why I write YA. I get that same tingly feeling when I write one of these scenes. It’s addicting. I love recreating the amaziness, awkwardness, and general craziness of being a teen. So what do you write and why? M.B.