Today I’m kicking off my sandals (yes, I’m wearing sandals . . . it’s still 85 degrees where I live . . . POLO!  Oh sorry, just blogging pool side)–anyway, where were we? Oh yes! Jessa Russo, my CQ sister who like me, reads, writes and breathes paranormal YA, is here to tell us what drew her to read and write in this kick butt genre.

Woot, woot!! Take it away, Jessa.

I started reading at an early age – as I believe we all did – and when I was in middle school I became obsessed with Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. (Me too! Love R.L. Met  him at a reading festival 2 yrs ago and he made up an AWESOME story right there on the spot with the kiddos suggestions!) But I feel like we didn’t have much along the lines of young adult back then, and honestly, I can’t remember anything after my Christopher Pike obsession. I think I just quickly followed in my mom’s footsteps and began devouring Steven King and Dean Koontz (I have gotten weak in my 30s. Used to read these guys, but now they just freak me the eff out!) when I’d been ready to move past Christopher Pike.

As an adult, I continued feeding my love of mystery and paranormal with Sandra Brown, more Dean Koontz, Heather Graham …

And then I had a baby, and decided I didn’t have time to read. So I didn’t read for a lot of years. (Ohmigosh, are we sistas from another mother? Me tooooooo!)

One day, everything changed. My friends were suddenly obsessed with this new teeny-bopper book called Twilight. And I mean REALLY obsessed. Yes, I made fun of them. Yes, I made a LOT of fun of them. They were claiming ‘Team Edward’ and ‘Team Jacob,’ and all I could think was ‘Team Get A Life.’ So then the movie came out, and I had friends going to midnight showings with their teen cousins/sisters/daughters/etc. And they were as excited if not more so than the teens! I was amazed. (Now YOU are freaking me the eff out–I’m putting on my cool foil hat now so you can stop reading my mind and stealing my memories!)

Eventually, one of my uber-obsessed friends brought over a pirated DVD of Twilight (Yes, it was still in theaters/No, I don’t condone pirating/Yes, I watched it. The shame! lol) And I almost enjoyed it, but I felt like something was missing. So, she convinced me to read the book, leaving me with her well-worn, prized copy. (*takes foil hat off* phew! I read the books before the movie, back in the summer of 2009 when my sisters dragged me to Target and told me I had to read it)

{Insert reluctant me: Fine. I’ll read it.}

Fast forward twenty-four hours, and I was like a drug addict searching for a fix. I was calling libraries and friends, posting on MySpace, doing whatever I could to locate the next installment. (Apparently I was too cheap to buy it at the time, though I am now the proud owner of the boxed set.) *grin* (Hey, you have to save money for Starbucks coffee and cake pops, right?!)

I read the entire set in under two weeks – which would have been less time had I not had to locate each one and borrow it from friends. (Which should have driven me to fork up the cash to buy the set, but whatever!)

Well, the point of that story is to tell you that after that, I was hooked. It was like suddenly, someone had opened my eyes and said, “Jessa! Wake up! You DO have time to read, you silly goose!”

{Insert happy me: “OMG I HAVE TIME TO READ! And I am happy! YAY!”}

*Big thanks to Stephenie Meyer.*

Now you know what got me started in YA, but what is it exactly that draws me to read and write YA?  

Well, for starters, there’s so much more room for creativity in YA. So much more innocence, growth, and exploration. But aside from that, I already know what it’s like to be a grown up. I have a mortgage. I have bills I worry about paying. I have debt. I have a marriage to nurture. I have a daughter who depends on me to make all the right choices for her life. I have all of the stuff that comes with adulthood. (I hear ya! Being “mature” sure sucks sometimes, which is why I so rarely act my age.)

So yeah, maybe I want to read about that young adult innocence that I left behind a long time ago. Maybe I want to read about that first kiss I will never have again. Or that first love that makes you feel like you’re going to crumble in on yourself and combust into a million pieces all at the same time. Or even that first heartbreak that you swear you will never ever recover from. (Well, I recovered just fine, but the guys didn’t;-) Kidding, kidding–I met my hubby when I was 14 so I’m kinda a spoiled brat)

I will never have those feelings again. And I’m not complaining – I wouldn’t trade my happily ever after for any of that – but I do miss those first feelings, that innocence that comes with adolescence. The mistakes and regrets, the joys and the triumphs … even the pain.

THAT is why I love YA.

THAT is why I write YA.

There’s something so special, and so unique about that time in our lives, and it is over in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon you’re facing down your thirties and wondering what happened to the hot seventeen-year-old you used to see in the mirror. (For me it was 28, IDK why but 28 was my hot year. Maybe there’s something to that “golden birthday” thing b/c I was born Aug. 28th. I’ll spare you the year!)

Well, I can tell you – she has gray hairs, wrinkles, and goes to bed at nine because she’s too tired to stay up late anymore, and when she does, it takes days to recover.

She’s also staring down into gorgeous blue eyes that believe she hung the moon, and loving the husband she always dreamed she’d have. So it’s a good thing. But every so often, she likes to be reminded that youth is an amazing thing too.

Well said, Jessa! I hope you didn’t mind me randomly commenting on your post . . . it’s what I do! If you haven’t read Jessa’s new book, check out the blurb below. It’s next on my TBR list *squee*

To learn more about Jessa and Ever, visit her website.