When I was 22, I asked a fellow male author if they wanted to trade manuscripts. He told me he’d send me his, but he didn’t want mine because “pretty girls were meant for pictures” instead. That was my only value to him. His art. My body. When I was 23, a panel of male authors saw me taking my seat beside them at a con and said, “oh, you’re in the wrong room. The dumb YA panel is next door.”

Sooo...I have a book out tomorrow.

I haven’t really known how to talk about it, but here goes: Several years ago, when my career was really struggling, and I was reaching the end up my hope, two book sales changed my life.

The first, you might know, was VICIOUS.

The second, you probably don’t, was this one.

People always comment on how surprised they are I have time to read. But I don’t. I MAKE time. I consider reading widely not only part of my job, but an investment in my own craft. Nothing has ever helped me grow as much as reading. I can tell when writers stop reading. And I can tell when they only read within their genre. It’s like watching someone walk down a narrowing road.

HEY TWITTER. I wanted to talk about something I'm calling Youngest Common Denominator. CITY OF GHOSTS has been out for a week now, and I've been overwhelmed by the reception, but I've noticed a group of voices, most of them my adult readers, who feel the book is not long enough, not as detailed as ADSOM, etc.

One of the greatest misconceptions in publishing is that you make it through a door, it stays open. I think about this constantly. I see so many debut authors like, "Oh, this is my life now!" And I think, "No, this is your life this year."

THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO WRITE.

That being said, here’s what I’m doing with this book. STEP 1: BRAIN DUMP.

For each scene, I open up a blank doc/tab and spill thoughts into it. I block out the action, muse on emotional threads, drop in any lines of dialogue.

Basically the dump-these-puzzle-pieces-on-the-table part.

Okay, I have spent the last 48 hours self-assessing my process/reminding myself how *I* write, and I'm going to share a little about it. Again, this is how it works for ME. Not prescriptive. 1. I don't write in order. And I'm not talking about chapters. I mean I don't write the SENTENCES OF MY SCENES in order. So the first thing I do is write a short summary of what I want in the scene.

Every time someone asks, it gets pushed back another day.

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Look, here's the honest answer: It's messy. It's messy on multiple fronts. It's messy because I'm contracted for other books.