My hero

I don't know about other people and their dreams, but as a writer I've found it's helpful to have a hero, someone in the business that I admire and strive to be like. Judy Blume is my hero, partly because she wrote controversial books and partly because she kept writing them. I always joke with friends that if I have half as many banned books as Judy Blume, I'll be happy. The truth is, though, I admire her for saying what she felt needed to be said, for telling stories that needed to be told, despite the opposition. And the happy side effect is that banned books actually sell better than non-controversial books. (I don't think the book-banning camps realize this, or they wouldn't draw attention to the books they hate.)

It's funny how when I was a "young adult," the last thing I wanted was for my books to be classified as YA. Now I want to write some young adult and juvenile books, as well as adult novels. In time I'll make it into authorhood, and when I do, I hope my books touch as many hearts as have Judy Blume's... and fire up as many conservatives. Really, you can't say anything important without doing both.