When you read a piece of writing that you admire send a note of thanks to the author.

I take mentoring very seriously and I am on the board of an organization called Girls Write Now where we match teen girls and writing mentors because it changes their lives.

Writing a teen character is something I wanted to try again for a long time!

When I was a teen I thought I would have to choose between my writing or my music or my art but it turns out it's a difficult juggling game but I can do all of them.

The only protection as a historian is to institute a process of research and writing that minimizes the possibility of error. And that I have tried to do aided by modern technology which enables me having long since moved beyond longhand to use a computer for both organizing and taking notes.

My first job after college was at Magic Quest an educational software startup company where I was responsible for writing the content. I found that job somewhat accidentally but after working there a few weeks and loving my job I decided to pursue a career in technology.

I spend so much time on the screen when I am writing the last thing you want to do is spend more time on the Internet looking at a screen. That's what I hate about all this technology.

The typewriting machine when played with expression is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.

Writing I'm convinced should be a subversive activity - frowned on by the authorities - and not one cooed over and praised beyond common sense by some teacher.

When I was writing 'The Abstinence Teacher ' I really tried to immerse myself in contemporary American evangelical culture.