Meeting Authors: Sarah Dessen

I got to meet the fabulous Sarah Dessen today. She started out reading a selection from ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

Then she took questions from the audience. Some things she talked about:

When she wrote LOCK AND KEY, she purposefully made it different. She had read a lot of negatie reviews saying she needs to be more different, all of her books are the same. And then apparently people said LOCK AND KEY was not enough like her other books.

She said when she starts writing, she always has her beginning, ending, climactic moment, and first line down. Although it changes along the way.

THIS LULLABY is her favorite. THIS LULLABY and ALONG FOR THE RIDE were the most fun for her to write.

She doesnt' like the idea of writing a series or doing sequels, so she started the cameo thing. Now she said she feels it's expected of her to do the cameos, and she enjoys them.

She said guys were the hardest for her to write. She wants to make them each unique, but kinda makes them all like the guys she liked when she was a teen. Said she was concerned they would be too similar. Dexter and Wes are her two favorite guys.

She said she often procrastinates when writing. This makes me feel better. She said she tries not to think about her writing when she's not at the keyboard (which is every day from 3-5 EST while her nanny is watching her daughter) because it drives her crazy and makes it harder to write. Also, when she's frustrated, she walks away instead of forcing her writing.

She said she gets inspiration from everywhere, but especially airports.

And here we are after she signed my books!