Anita Liberty is not only an amazing author she is a performance artist, poet, screenwriter and film maker. Her latest, a semi-autobiographic YA novel called THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, (YEP, THAT WOULD BE ME) is about the trials and tribulations of high school — what else, right? It includes all of the main ingredients too: a lot of making-out with undeserving boys, fights with friends, parents you love and hate, and French-exchange students. What's different is that Anita Liberty, who is not a comedian per say, manages to make all of her work totally hilarious!

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE is playful and fun. Anita's journal moves along pretty quickly incorporating poetry, "charts" of her parents' performance ratings, and very helpful "advice from the author". A lot of Liberty's most simple writing is really insightful though and contrary to what sassy young Anita might like you to think, she's delightful.

We interviewed Anita Liberty about THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, among other things, and I'm so glad we did. She's an author to watch and if she doesn't make you laugh a little, I don't know what will. Also check her out here.

YPulse Books: You do all kinds of writing-related work. As an artist, is there an identity that you feel more passionately about or to which you feel more connected: comedian, performance artist, monologuist, YA author, screen-writer, film maker? Why?

Anita Liberty: Wow. When I agreed to be interviewed for the Ypulse Author Spotlight, I just assumed you were gonna ask me easy little questions and I wouldn't have to actually work very hard or spend much time crafting thoughtful answers. And then you go and, right off the bat, ask me a question that sends me into an indecisive tailspin, provoking a huge existential crisis to which I have responded by playing a lot of Text Twist and Wordscraper instead of sitting down to address your query. But I'm here now and I'm going to try to answer this as candidly as possible. Wait. One more game of Text Twist. Okay. I've never really loved the act of writing. It's stressful, slow-going and fills me with self-doubt. However, I love having written. I absolutely love that I'm the author of three books. I love having those books on my shelf. It makes me feel like I'm really doing something with my life.

On the other hand, being an author doesn't allow me to monitor and appreciate the reader's response (unless anyone wants to have me over to sit next to her while she reads so I can say, "D'ja like that part? What about that part? Isn't that funny? And clever? Do you have any chips?"). Performing my material does allow me to gauge the immediate response to my writing and that is very satisfying. I've always been a writer, expressed in some form or another, but I began the work that's closest to what I do now as live performance. That's how I grew the body of my work, how I honed my "character," how I staved off many a lonely Saturday night in my twenties. So. Have I answered your question? No, of course not. But I'm getting closer. I guess I'd have to say that, although I engage in it rarely these days, I feel most passionately about my identity as a writer who performs her own material. (Was that one of the choices?)

YPB: How much of THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE are actual entries from your high-school journal and how much did you recreate?

AL: I would say about 37 percent of the book is made up of actual entries from my high school journal. In my books, I always "enhance" the facts of my life and fill in the blanks in a way that (hopefully) drives a narrative and makes the truth that much more entertaining. However, some of the verbatim quotes and incidents are (to me) some of the funniest. For instance, a lot of the Monty stuff in the book is taken straight out of my journal. I actually wrote the words: "His penis was huge! But I haven't seen any others, so what do I know?" (Is the word "penis" allowed in this interview? 'Cause if it's not, I'm not sure I want to continue. The word "penis" should always be invited to the party.)

YPB: What did you learn from writing this book about Anita-the-teen that has informed or changed Anita the adult woman?

AL: I can't say that writing THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE necessarily informed or changed my perception of the adult Anita. What I can say is that it was interesting going back and writing about Anita's teenage years, figuring out who she was well before she ever met Mitchell (the ex-boyfriend who was the inspiration for my first book, HOW TO HEAL THE HURT BY HATING) and reliving the thrill of a first real romance and the agony of unrequited love. To be honest, writing about teenaged Anita sort of got my hormones going - I find myself Googling Zac Efron and Daniel Radcliffe a lot. Mmm. Tasty.

YPB: The narrative in CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE is that of your average scrappy, snarky, totally hilarious teen but the poems seem to me, to be the place where we really see Anita's most reflective and honest side. Was that intentional and/or do think it's more a function of the different genres?

AL: I don't know. I just don't. It wasn't intentional, but writing in a specific format or even just calling the piece a "poem" can give it more emotional heft and intensity than if the same piece were in prose-form. Sometimes I write a diary entry that wants to be a poem. However, I never write a poem that wants to be a diary entry. The poems do tend to be more impulsive and no-holds-barred and un-self-conscious.

YPB: Anita finally has sex — loses her virginity to someone she loves and with whom she has a pretty healthy relationship. Intercourse for lack of more descriptive word, is a pretty hot topic in YA — How did you arrive at the decision to write about this and why?

AL: You know why it's a "hot topic" in YA? 'Cause it's a HOT TOPIC in life. I've been thinking about this a lot. Especially given this year's presidential race and the disparity between the two candidates and their views on teenage pregnancy, birth control and a woman's right-to-choose. Sexual intercourse has become so politicized. And it's pretty much the most natural activity human beings can engage in, besides eating and pooping. I just don't understand it. I mean, I do, but I wish things were different. I'm a mother of a very young daughter. I don't want her to grow up. I don't want her to have sex. I don't want her to smoke or drive or drink or get hurt or be mean or dress slutty or see bad movies or be bored. But that's just irrational. She will grow up. She will have sex. She will try recreational drugs. She will fall in love and get hurt. At least once, I'm sure. But as long as I know that she's making clear and healthy decisions, that she's being safe and not putting herself into compromising positions, that she's with people who care about her and whom she cares about, then having sex is not going to send her on the road to ruin. In fact, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with my teenage daughter having safe and mutually-consenting sex with someone she cared about than her driving a car or being a passenger with an inexperienced driver. So there. And I decided to include my first experience with sex in the book 'cause it happened — I had sex on my 17th birthday! (Oops. I think I changed it to my 18th birthday in the book. Sorry, Mom.)

YPB: Your other books were not necessarily written for young adults. How was writing for a teen audience different from your other writing experiences?

AL: I thought that writing for a teen audience was going to be a lot different than writing for an adult audience. I was wrong. I never compromised my voice or tried to "age down." Teenagers today are very sophisticated, in terms of their intellect and their worldview. There seemed to me to be no reason to edit myself. As long as I wrote about issues and situations that were specific to the teenage experience, I found that I could write in my own (adult) voice and it worked.

YPB: What's next for Anita Liberty? What are you currently working on?

AL: I'm currently in the process of developing a series of webisodes based on THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. I'm also trying to figure out another YA book to pitch. I'm continuing to develop half-hour pilots for television. I just moved out to Los Angeles, so I'm having a lot of lunch meetings. I'm trying to stop biting my nails. And I'm getting really good at Text Twist and WordScraper.

YPB: Thank you very much. I so enjoyed CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE and can't wait to hear about your next project.

Audrey Wait is the very sad story of a difficult break-up. NOT! It's more like a super-fun, fast ride into instant celebrity. The main character doesn't act, dance, or even sing though. She's just your average music-loving teenager. What happens to Audrey's life as a result of a song written about her by her ex-boyfriend and our fame-obsessed culture — it's a unique and cute story. Thank God Audrey has a great head on her shoulders and makes it through relatively unscathed, but not before saying her piece.

Ypulse Readers, Ever had a song written about you by an ex? Probably not, but be one of the first three commenters to tell us a unique break-up story and you'll receive a free copy of Audrey, Wait.

YPulse Books: What gave you this awesome idea for a story?

Robin Benway: I got the idea thanks to a lot of music and a lot of free time. I had quit my previous job with the intention of writing a book, but I had no idea what I was going to write about. (I wouldn't recommend that as a good plan of action, just FYI.) Anyway, I was listening to music in my apartment one morning and I heard a song that was particularly spiteful towards the lyricist's ex-girlfriend and I thought, "I bet that girl has a completely different opinion about their relationship." All songs are one-sided, after all, and I thought there was a story in the flipside to that song. So I began the book just to find out what would happen.

YPB: Were Evan and/or Audrey modeled after anyone in particular?

RB: I think Audrey is a mosaic of most girls I've known growing up, including myself. One of my friends was really into music in high school, and she turned me on to bands like The Smiths, Velvet Underground, and The Cure, so I've always had a love for that sort of fan. As for Evan, I'm happy to say that I've never met anyone like Evan. I tried to just think of really self-involved things and then applied them to his character. I don't think Evan's a bad person, but he's probably a better musician than he is a boyfriend.

YPB: The story itself doesn't spend a lot of time on the break-up or even Evan, it's more about the song and its impact. Why did you do that?

RB: I wrote "Audrey" from the perspective that her fame and the song's popularity were already super-huge, so in that little fictional "Audrey" world, everyone already knew about the break-up and about Evan. Also, I wanted this story to be purely Audrey's since this was her chance to tell her side of things. While the break-up and Evan were huge influences in her life, what came after them was definitely more of a rollercoaster ride and hadn't been addressed yet.

YPB: What are your personal feelings about fame and celebrity? Did you ever consider allowing Audrey to be in the reality show offered to her?

RB: I think my personal feelings about fame and celebrity are pretty even-keeled. I would never want that level of fame that Audrey and real-life celebrities experiences because I love my privacy, but I do think the wheels have come off a bit, in terms of how much attention is paid to celebrities' lives. There's a "build them up, knock them down" style to celebrity reporting that I loathe because of how brutal it is. I used to read gossip websites a lot more than I do now because the user comments and reporting style were just depressing. Part of that definitely influenced how "Audrey" was written, like when she reads nasty comments about herself on online message boards. I just don't like to see people get ripped apart just so others can feel better about themselves. I'm a big fan of the Golden Rule.

As far as Audrey accepting the reality show, I never thought she would do something like that, even though I considered it. The funny thing about writing "Audrey" was that I never knew what was going to happen! I was as curious as anyone else to see if she would do it, but it turned out that she had different ideas.

YPB: I really wanted Audrey to really unleash on Evan when he finally contacted her? Why was she so easy on him?

RB: Excellent, excellent question. I think that because "Audrey" is written entirely from her perspective, you really only get glimpses of what Evan's going through, but the fact is that both of these teenagers have been launched into an entirely different world. Evan wrote a song about his ex-girlfriend, and just like Audrey, it never occurred to him what fame would really be like. I think he had ideas of being a rock star because he saw it on TV, but to be an overnight rock star is probably akin to being shot out of a cannon. When I wrote that scene between them, I too was surprised that Audrey didn't have more anger towards Evan, but I think she recognizes something in Evan and identifies with it, that feeling of "Oh, life isn't happening like I thought it would." Also, out of everyone in Audrey's world, Evan is the only person who can understand what it's like to be famous, and I think there's a shared empathy between them.

YPB: Did you ever consider getting Evan and Audrey back together again?

RB: After one of my friends read the first chapter, she sent me a note that said, "You HAVE to get them back together!" and I was thinking about it, but then I started to write the character of James. The more I wrote about this skinny red-haired boy, the more I liked him and I realized that he was someone special. He had substance and was a good counterpoint for Audrey and I didn't want to chuck him for Evan.

YPB: What are you working for the future?

RB: I'm always afraid to answer this question because I'm afraid I'll jinx whatever I'm working on! For now, I'll just say that I'm staring a new book about some people who do some things and have some fun times. As soon as I write the first chapter, I'll feel comfortable saying more, I promise! :)

One Simple Question: "As an artist, what inspires and motivates you most in your role as a writer for Young Adults?"

Wow. I think I get inspired by all sorts of artistic things, from books to photography to the melody of a certain song. Sometimes I'll read a passage from a book and it's like I'm charged with adrenaline, or I'll see a picture and its colors make me want to write something down as sort of a verbal counterpoint to the image. Music is a constant influence in the same way: I'll hear a song and something will well up inside me and that provides the inspiration to create something. I think that's what I like so much about being part of a creative, artistic field. There's just so many ways to be inspired.

In a post-apocalyptic world where animals and machines struggle for power and control, living far above China in a network of hot-air balloons, Mei discovers a rare special power. She also learns she's able to communicate with Rom, who is far away in a futuristic Las Vegas, through their magic journals. They've never actually met, but they realize they share a similar "kaimira" gene making them animal-machine hybrids. The first in a series of five books, The Sky Village offers complex characters and a rich plot in a dark and complicated new world.

We recently interviewed writer Chris Rettstatt, the heart and mind behind author Monk Ashland, and asked him about his new book and various other book-related things.

YPulse Books readers, let us know what you think are some of the new themes in YA sci-fi. The first three commenters will receive a free copy of Kaimira: The Sky Village.

Ypulse Books: What do you think are the unique challenges specific to writing for young adults?

Chris Rettstatt: So far I haven't encountered any challenges other than the astonishingly competitive market. Beyond that, I see only opportunities: to write about the things I care most about, like villages made of hot air balloons and battling biotech beasties; to feast on my absolute favorite entertainment and call it "research"; and to paint a few cave-wall pictures inside the Olympic-sized imaginations of the most important people on the planet - those young adults who will soon be our overlords.

YPB: What do reluctant readers need most to maintain interest in a book?

CR: We're all reluctant readers when presented with reading material that doesn't connect with us. Reluctant readers need characters they can care about, who feel real; stories that feel like they're going somewhere; and details that show that the author is digging deep to create an authentic and original experience. In short, they need exactly what all readers need: good stories that feel relevant and real.

YPB: What interests you most about reading and writing in the sci-fi/ fantasy genre?

CR: I like reading science fiction and fantasy because the stuff is just so cool. And once I invest the time to get neck-deep in a storyverse, I don't want to come out again anytime soon, and the best immersive series fiction tends to be sci-fi and fantasy.

I like writing science fiction because it gives me a non-preachy way of writing about themes that are important to me, like intolerance and violence. And also because I love making up crazy stuff and then making it feel real.

YPB: Do you think there is new and recent fascination with post-apocalyptic themes among teen books? If so why?

CR: I've heard this a few times recently. I think the trend has less to do with what writers are writing and more to do with what publishers are publishing. Post-apocalyptic fiction has been going strong for as long as I can remember. Just look at how many times Tokyo has been obliterated on TV and film. And in this Golden Age of YA literature, it makes sense that a few of us are going to shake the Etch-a-Sketch, so to speak, and create a fresh start and a new sandbox for our imaginary characters.

That said, when a community experiences a traumatic reminder of its mortality and its vulnerability to destruction, I do think the resulting surge of anxiety tends to erupt in a renewed interest in post-apocalyptic stories. And if there is something in the YA lit Zeitgeist giving a leg up to that sort of fiction, it would be convenient to connect it to modern fears of terrorist attack.

But my gut feeling is that many of today's post-apocalyptic stories have roots that are older than that. I think these more modern fears will be played out in the stories our children write. It scares me to imagine what forms their fictional disasters will take, oozing from primal fears caused by our generation's mistakes.

YPB: What's the best compliment you've ever received as a writer?

CR: When I was in 4th grade I entered two pieces in a statewide
competition. The theme was recycling, and the state was Arkansas. The first piece was a drawing. I spent weeks on it, planning it out, getting all the details right. I was very proud of it.

On deadline day, I found out I could have entered more than one category. So I scribbled out a story in about forty minutes, just for the heck of it. I didn't place in the art category, but I won for the story, resulting in a banquet where then-Governor Bill Clinton gave me a ribbon and shook my hand. From that time on, all my best writing has been at the last minute.

YPB: Where did you come up with the idea for The Sky Village and the entire Kaimira Series?

CR: The lines distinguishing human, animal, and machine are being blurred, and that's happening in our time. It's not fiction. Chimeras and artificial intelligence. Technology as the new leg of human evolution. It's hard to see what you're becoming while it's happening. Future generations, starting with today's young adults, will be faced with issues that most people today would call science fiction.

And there's a bit of the beast in each of us, irrational, relying on instinct, as well as a part that's machine-like, efficient and unrelentingly logical. Finding the balance is what makes us human.

When I visit a new place, and particularly a new culture, I enjoy imagining what it might be like in a few hundred years. And if I do a reading, I like asking teens to look two or three hundred years into the future and share what they see. Writers can create chimerical futures, but creating the real future is up to those teens.

YPB: I recently saw the video for The Sky Village, it's very compelling.
What has it been like marketing your book? What has been helpful? Successful? How do you think authors can best spend their energy when trying to get the word out about a new title?

CR: I'm still finding my way when it comes to marketing. I'm just trying different things to see what works. I'm not terribly good at (or comfortable with) marketing myself directly. But I love participating in discussions about young adult books and youth-targeted entertainment in general, and a nice side effect of engaging in those conversations is that it keeps me on the radar.

My best advice to authors is to make the experience be about more than your book. Attach your efforts to a cause. Use your role as author to support something that matters to teens even more than your book matters to you.

YPB: Tell us about Book 2.

CR: I can't say much about Book 2 without giving away the ending to The Sky Village (Book 1). But I can say that the second book is called The Terrible Everything and that it will continue where The Sky Village left off. In the first book, Mei had to walk in her mother's footsteps, adjusting to life in the Sky Village. In The Terrible Everything, she'll have a chance to walk in her father's footsteps as a member of the warrior-scientist tribe called the Scimurai.

YPB: Sounds great. Awesome responses Chris! Thank you.

Today's spotlight is on Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why — a tough look at one girl's suicide and the interconnected events leading up to it. The story is told from Hannah's point of view. Before she kills herself, she prepares a series of tapes for each person involved in her life leading up to her suicide. The tapes describe how that person's behavior directly affected her deadly decision. It's heavy, but an interesting approach to a very serious issue. Not only does it offer insight into what a suicidal person is thinking and feeling, it illustrates the many ways in which our actions can potentially impact others.

I got a chance to interview the author, Jay Asher, and find out more about how this book came to be.

YPulse Books: What inspired you to write Thirteen Reasons Why?

Jay Asher: This is a two-part answer:
1. For years, I'd wanted to write a book with two simultaneous narratives, with one narrator giving sort of an audiotour of their town to the other narrator. That idea came after I took an audiotour of a King Tut's tomb mock-up. But I was only interested in writing humorous books at the time, and I couldn't come up with any funny stories which needed to be told that way.
2. A close relative of mine attempted suicide when she was the same age as Hannah. Thankfully, she survived. Over the years, she and I discussed her frame of mind at the time…and how, looking back, she can now see some of the events in her life differently.

One morning, both of those ideas merged, and I quickly wrote the first 10 pages of this book.

YPB: In Thirteen Reasons Why we know that the main character is already dead. (I kept hoping some twist would occur that would change the direction of the plot, and that she wouldn't die after all.) Why did you choose to write it in this style…looking back at, but simultaneously leading up to an event?

JA: I don't know if the book could have been written any other way. If I wrote it without looking back, it would've been solely from Hannah's perspective as she was recording the tapes. Or, without the tapes, it would just be her having these different experiences. But I thought having the second narrator…a second perspective…was important.

YPB: As a man, what was it like to write from a female's point of view? What were some of the challenges, if any?

JA: For whatever reason, Hannah's voice was never a struggle for me. The way she spoke was very clear the moment she popped into my head. But when it came time to figure out what happened to her, I spent a lot of time talking to my wife and two female writing partners. Because of that, gossip and rumors became a much bigger part of the story than if I'd written it based purely on my own ideas of what high school can be like for females.

YPB: Have you ever thought of writing a sequel? I'd love to hear some of the others involved recall the events leading up to Hannah's suicide — sort of "Roshomon" style? (Not that I don't believe her account, but because of the nature of your storytelling already established…with many people involved in the outcome of one event.)

JA: I've definitely thought of writing a sequel. If that happens, it won't be for a while…and only if that story feels natural all on its own. But I do think there are a lot more sides to this story that could be told.

YPB: What kind of research did you do on the issue of teenage suicide?

JA: Before I began writing the book, I'd gone to some local suicide prevention forums. But I left most of my book research till I was almost done writing Hannah's story to make sure I wasn't forcing her to do things out of character. Then, after reading some books on the signs often shown by suicidal individuals, I went back and put a little more emphasis on certain aspects of her thoughts and actions.

YPB: What can people do to help someone they think is contemplating suicide? Is there any one big indicator that will help identify someone in need?

JA: The most important thing is to let them know they can feel comfortable talking to you. For a lot of people contemplating suicide, they just can't see the people around them who really do care. And because suicide can be difficult to talk about, it can be uncomfortable to approach even our closest friends and tell them we're concerned about them. But that's so important!

There isn't one big indicator of someone in need, but common sense will usually clue us in that something's wrong. But like I said, because suicide has such a stigma to it, it's tempting to shrug off these signs as just a phase. Things like a sudden drop in grades, someone who used to be social no longer wanting to go out, or a drastic change in appearance can be signs of a person struggling.

YPB: What are you currently working on?

JA: I'm working on another novel for teens. It will be a little more lighthearted than Thirteen Reasons Why, but I'm excited about it!

YPB: It is such an important topic and this is such an interesting and creative treatment of it. Thank you, Jay. We look forward to your next book.

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Today's author spotlight is on Deborah Reber author of a number of self-help books for young girls including In Their Shoes which we covered at Ypulse not too long ago.

Not only does Deborah inspire a tangible feeling of, "I can do this and it's going to be okay," she offers many helpful tools and advice for the unique challenges stressed-out teens face today. In Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Peaceful You, Deborah attempts to conquer the monster we all live with and does so with confidence, warmth and a sense of calm. Not only are there blurbs from a variety of cool successful women describing how they deal with everyday stress, there are useful exercises for readers to think about and design their own MO for "chilling".

As a grown woman with many years of stress under my belt, so to speak. I found her insight and advice right on the money. I may not be applying to college, but I did find my front door wide open and my three year old son across the street in the neighbor's driveway this morning. I took Chill's wisdom to heart: Don't freak, there's nothing I can do now. Deep Breath. Put things in perspective. (I'm happy he's curious.) Felt grateful he wasn't hit by a car. Called My Mom. Called a friend. Made a plan to buy a deadbolt today. Ahhh I feel so much better. This is work we can all do, teen and adults alike.

We spoke to Deborah Reber about her new book earlier this week and now we want to hear from you too. The first three commenters to share how they keep stress under control will receive a free copy of Chill: Stress Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced You.

Ypulse Books: Why did you write Chill: Stress Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced Peaceful You?

Deborah Reber: The seed of the book idea actually came from Michelle Nagler, an incredible editor, formerly at Simon Pulse, who I got to know while writing my book In Their Shoes. Michelle told me that Pulse was interested in publishing a book on stress reduction for teens, and asked if I'd be up for writing it. I jumped at the opportunity — in my eyes it was the chance to write the ultimate self-help book for today's generation of teen girls. Since being overly stressed affects every aspect of our well-being — emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual — in Chill I was able to provide young women with important strategies for caring for all of those areas which, for a girl advocate like me, was a dream. Working with Simon Pulse again and their incredible editorial and design staff was an added bonus. I knew the book would look great and get into the hands of the girls who need it.

YPB: You talk about a variety of things that stress teen girls out. In your research was there one thing that stood out as the most stressful for the most girls?

DR: Hands down, challenges revolving around friendships and social life were the top causes of stress. Pressure to excel in academics and sports was a close second, as was the stress girls place on themselves to fit in and/or achieve a certain physical ideal. But it was the friendship anxiety that cut across nearly all girls, no matter their age, ethnicity, or economic background. In many ways, it's the same sort of drama we faced as teens — group fights, backstabbing friends, unrequited crushes, who's going to prom with who, competition, and so on — but at the same time, it looks different.

YPB: Do you think teen girls today have more stress than they had in past generations?

DR: Definitely. Of course, there's a lot of stress that we as adults can relate to because we experienced it on some level when we were adolescents. But the landscape for today's teens is so different and the pace of life so accelerated, that the overall result is a generation of extremely stressed-out teens. For example, consider the current climate for high school students looking to go to their dream college. This generation is so huge (and a number of colleges are admitting fewer students) that competition for admissions is unprecedented. So students schedule too many accelerated classes, load up on a ton of extracurriculars, and volunteer their free time away in an effort to beef up their "resumes." (I know I didn't have a resume when I was in high school in the 80's). Plus, tuition is so high that college graduates are coming out of school with an incredible debt to pay off, and high schoolers know this is the case. And the academic scene is just one part of the equation. Compound that with things like growing up in the midst of a technological revolution, having instant access to information, facing a bleak environmental future, and growing up in a post-9/11 world, and it's clear that this generation is seriously stressed out…the likes of which we may not have seen before.

YPB: How much and/or what elements in our culture play into the amount of stress teens experience in their lives today?

DR: When I answer this question, I actually first think back to my own precarious existence as a high school and college student…going to parties, drinking, and frankly, often making an idiot out of myself. You know that feeling of waking up the morning after a night out and sensing you did something really stupid the night before? Ten years ago, you'd have waited a day or two for the embarrassment to fade and you could go on mostly unaffected by whatever foolish thing you may have done. Today? Making a simple mistake can spiral out of control in no time. The morning after any party, a picture of you doing something embarrassing, regretful…even possibly illegal, could've been emailed to thousands of people, been posted on Facebook…maybe even gotten you expelled from school. The truth is, this generation of teens is playing out their lives in a world where there really are no communication boundaries. Who you are and how you live your life is essentially accessible to everyone, and when you're a teen trying to figure out your self-identify, that's obviously not ideal. This places an incredible amount of pressure on teens to not screw up, since screwing up can have such serious consequences on the rest of their lives. (A bummer too, since isn't screwing up how we learn the tough lessons and grow as people?)

YPB: If you could ensure that girls who read Chill get one message, what would it be?

DR: I would want girls to know that they are in control of their own experience. There's nothing worse than feeling like life is just about dealing with whatever gets thrown at us. It's this type of belief system that's at the root of much of society's angst and inability to find balance. But the truth is, we create our own experience by the way we choose think about the things that happen to us. If girls could read this book and feel a little more in control of their destiny and be empowered to know they can handle whatever comes their way (even the most stressful or uncomfortable aspects of being a teen), then I would be one happy author.

YPB: What can we do to help? Any advice for teachers, mentors, and parents of teen girls who are stressed-out?

DR: First, acknowledge that today's teens have it difficult. Yes, they may be a generation of young people who are on the surface incredibly empowered and confident, but this doesn't mean that their pressures aren't intense or real. Understand that today's teens, no matter how much they seem to have it together, are drowning in stress and they may not actually know how to swim. Second, listen. Try to tune in to what's happening in the lives of teen girls and be aware of when things might be way off-balance. In many cases, parents may not realize the pressure they are placing on their children in an attempt to help them excel and be successful. So I recommend parents of teen girls make an effort to regularly check-in with their daughters and see where they're at–ask them if they're feeling overcommitted, overscheduled, overwhelmed. Teachers and mentors can do the same thing. Lastly, share. As adults, we often have great tools we've learned over the years–knowing when to take a day off, learning when and how to say 'no,' identifying the things we need in our lives to create balance. Share these nuggets of wisdom with the teens in your life freely and support them in whatever way you can.

YPB: Deborah, Thanks so much for such thorough responses — and thanks for Chill. One things for sure, you seem to really care about teenagers and personally that makes me relax a little.

Today's author spotlight is on Deborah Reber author of a number of self-help books for young girls including In Their Shoes which we covered at Ypulse not too long ago.

Not only does Deborah inspire a tangible feeling of, "I can do this and it's going to be okay," she offers many helpful tools and advice for the unique challenges stressed-out teens face today. In Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Peaceful You, Deborah attempts to conquer the monster we all live with and does so with confidence, warmth and a sense of calm. Not only are there blurbs from a variety of cool successful women describing how they deal with everyday stress, there are useful exercises for readers to think about and design their own MO for "chilling".

As a grown woman with many years of stress under my belt, so to speak. I found her insight and advice right on the money. I may not be applying to college, but I did find my front door wide open and my three year old son across the street in the neighbor's driveway this morning. I took Chill's wisdom to heart: Don't freak, there's nothing I can do now. Deep Breath. Put things in perspective. (I'm happy he's curious.) Felt grateful he wasn't hit by a car. Called My Mom. Called a friend. Made a plan to buy a deadbolt today. Ahhh I feel so much better. This is work we can all do, teen and adults alike.

We spoke to Deborah Reber about her new book earlier this week and now we want to hear from you too. The first three commenters to share how they keep stress under control will receive a free copy of Chill: Stress Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced You.

Ypulse Books: Why did you write Chill: Stress Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced Peaceful You?

Deborah Reber: The seed of the book idea actually came from Michelle Nagler, an incredible editor, formerly at Simon Pulse, who I got to know while writing my book In Their Shoes. Michelle told me that Pulse was interested in publishing a book on stress reduction for teens, and asked if I'd be up for writing it. I jumped at the opportunity — in my eyes it was the chance to write the ultimate self-help book for today's generation of teen girls. Since being overly stressed affects every aspect of our well-being — emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual — in Chill I was able to provide young women with important strategies for caring for all of those areas which, for a girl advocate like me, was a dream. Working with Simon Pulse again and their incredible editorial and design staff was an added bonus. I knew the book would look great and get into the hands of the girls who need it.

YPB: You talk about a variety of things that stress teen girls out. In your research was there one thing that stood out as the most stressful for the most girls?

DR: Hands down, challenges revolving around friendships and social life were the top causes of stress. Pressure to excel in academics and sports was a close second, as was the stress girls place on themselves to fit in and/or achieve a certain physical ideal. But it was the friendship anxiety that cut across nearly all girls, no matter their age, ethnicity, or economic background. In many ways, it's the same sort of drama we faced as teens — group fights, backstabbing friends, unrequited crushes, who's going to prom with who, competition, and so on — but at the same time, it looks different.

YPB: Do you think teen girls today have more stress than they had in past generations?

DR: Definitely. Of course, there's a lot of stress that we as adults can relate to because we experienced it on some level when we were adolescents. But the landscape for today's teens is so different and the pace of life so accelerated, that the overall result is a generation of extremely stressed-out teens. For example, consider the current climate for high school students looking to go to their dream college. This generation is so huge (and a number of colleges are admitting fewer students) that competition for admissions is unprecedented. So students schedule too many accelerated classes, load up on a ton of extracurriculars, and volunteer their free time away in an effort to beef up their "resumes." (I know I didn't have a resume when I was in high school in the 80's). Plus, tuition is so high that college graduates are coming out of school with an incredible debt to pay off, and high schoolers know this is the case. And the academic scene is just one part of the equation. Compound that with things like growing up in the midst of a technological revolution, having instant access to information, facing a bleak environmental future, and growing up in a post-9/11 world, and it's clear that this generation is seriously stressed out…the likes of which we may not have seen before.

YPB: How much and/or what elements in our culture play into the amount of stress teens experience in their lives today?

DR: When I answer this question, I actually first think back to my own precarious existence as a high school and college student…going to parties, drinking, and frankly, often making an idiot out of myself. You know that feeling of waking up the morning after a night out and sensing you did something really stupid the night before? Ten years ago, you'd have waited a day or two for the embarrassment to fade and you could go on mostly unaffected by whatever foolish thing you may have done. Today? Making a simple mistake can spiral out of control in no time. The morning after any party, a picture of you doing something embarrassing, regretful…even possibly illegal, could've been emailed to thousands of people, been posted on Facebook…maybe even gotten you expelled from school. The truth is, this generation of teens is playing out their lives in a world where there really are no communication boundaries. Who you are and how you live your life is essentially accessible to everyone, and when you're a teen trying to figure out your self-identify, that's obviously not ideal. This places an incredible amount of pressure on teens to not screw up, since screwing up can have such serious consequences on the rest of their lives. (A bummer too, since isn't screwing up how we learn the tough lessons and grow as people?)

YPB: If you could ensure that girls who read Chill get one message, what would it be?

DR: I would want girls to know that they are in control of their own experience. There's nothing worse than feeling like life is just about dealing with whatever gets thrown at us. It's this type of belief system that's at the root of much of society's angst and inability to find balance. But the truth is, we create our own experience by the way we choose think about the things that happen to us. If girls could read this book and feel a little more in control of their destiny and be empowered to know they can handle whatever comes their way (even the most stressful or uncomfortable aspects of being a teen), then I would be one happy author.

YPB: What can we do to help? Any advice for teachers, mentors, and parents of teen girls who are stressed-out?

DR: First, acknowledge that today's teens have it difficult. Yes, they may be a generation of young people who are on the surface incredibly empowered and confident, but this doesn't mean that their pressures aren't intense or real. Understand that today's teens, no matter how much they seem to have it together, are drowning in stress and they may not actually know how to swim. Second, listen. Try to tune in to what's happening in the lives of teen girls and be aware of when things might be way off-balance. In many cases, parents may not realize the pressure they are placing on their children in an attempt to help them excel and be successful. So I recommend parents of teen girls make an effort to regularly check-in with their daughters and see where they're at–ask them if they're feeling overcommitted, overscheduled, overwhelmed. Teachers and mentors can do the same thing. Lastly, share. As adults, we often have great tools we've learned over the years–knowing when to take a day off, learning when and how to say 'no,' identifying the things we need in our lives to create balance. Share these nuggets of wisdom with the teens in your life freely and support them in whatever way you can.

YPB: Deborah, Thanks so much for such thorough responses — and thanks for Chill. One things for sure, you seem to really care about teenagers and personally that makes me relax a little.

Jody Gehrman doesn't pull any punches when it comes to painting a true picture of today's average high school junior. In Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, parents repeatedly disappoint, the charming star-jock is really a jerk and the seemingly promiscuous "town-bike" character is actually still a virgin. There's a lot of discussion of sex, partying, and overall bad behavior too. Initially I was a little bummed out at some of the language. I know, I know, I sound like a total prude but there are a lot of "hos, bimbos … and beeatches." As I continued to read, though, I began to think about the audience and slowly came around. The language here reflects the real atmosphere in which girls live today. The book is for them and that's how a lot of teens talk. (Ultimately, that's what made me sort of sad.) In the end, I concluded Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty had an honest tone and actually offered some good insight and a funny story focused on girl-power and friendship.

Ypulse readers, the first three of you to share a personal girl-power story will win a free copy of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty.

YPulse Books: Confessions of a Triple-Shot Betty is based on William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', what are some of the challenges of reworking such a classic? What made you decide to form your story in this way?

Jody Gerhman: Plot has always been my Achilles heel, and I find tremendous comfort in reworking old stories. Shakespeare is particularly fun to work with, since most of his plays are based on even older legends and tales–I figured if he did it, there's no shame in trying it myself. Much Ado seemed very appropriate for a book about teenagers, what with all the romantic deception and reputation-ruining scandals running through it. But it wasn't easy. In many places I had to work hard to modernize and update, since our values and everyday lives have changed so much in the last 400 years.

YPB:You discuss class a lot and the main characters also seem very aware of their soci-economic standing. Now, I'm not super familiar with the town, Sonoma (California), and I haven't read 'Much Ado About Nothing' since high school, but how much did one or the other inform your choice to make that an issue in Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty?

JG: I grew up very near Sonoma, in a town called Healdsburg. When I lived there it was a small, modest, fairly unremarkable place, but since then it's become extremely posh and touristy.
I did have a friend in high school whose family made a lot less than mine, and she was painfully aware of that. It helped me see that when you have what you need as a kid money might not seem like an issue, but when you have noticeably less than your friends, it can be very embarrassing and isolating. These days I think that's much more apparent in Sonoma County, because the rich there are very rich and those whose families are barely scraping by no doubt feel the gap between themselves and their wealthy peers.

YPB: My experience with teens today is that the "f" word (feminist) is not very well liked. Amidst a lot of misogeny there is a feminist message, a few actually, in this book. You even made one of the secondary characters a women's studies major. (Gasp!) Can you talk a little bit about how you arrived at the decision to incorporate that in Geena's world?

JG: Well, I know what you mean about the f word, so maybe it was dangerous, but mainly I find it's a semantic issue more than anything. The teen and twenty-something students at the college where I teach generally believe in women's rights, and they're all for women having a wide range of choices; I think the word "feminist" just tends to conjure images in their minds of man-hating females their mothers' age with bad haircuts and poor hygiene. I don't think I had this intention as I was writing, but in retrospect I'd like to think that Geena and her friends help to bridge that generation gap somehow and (in some tiny way) can demonstrate that whatever you want to call it, girls' empowerment is a good thing.

YPB: Furthermore, Geena and her friends don't seem to have many good adult role models (men or women) and Geena's own grit seems to come from within. What advice can you give girls who look around and feel discouraged by the adults in their lives?

JG: When I got into Geena's head, many adults started to look sort of inept and out of it. I mean I think her mom and uncle are reasonably cool–even her dad cares about Geena in his own flaky, self-absorbed way–but they're not really the focal point of her world. I didn't try to do this; it's just what sprouted naturally from her POV. If girls are discouraged by the adults in their immediate sphere, I guess I'd say look beyond to the public forum, to writers, teachers, trailblazers, scientists and artists they can admire. Also, I'd say having some compassion for the over-thirty set helps. It's not easy getting old, and many of us lose something along the way. That's part of what the under-thirty crowd does so well — they can inject the older generations with new life.

YPB: You've written a lot for an adult audience and this is your first book for teens. How do the experiences differ? How are they the same?

JG: I just answered a similar question for another interview, and I quoted Sherman Alexie, a little gem I found on your site (I gave you credit, naturally!) Okay, so if it's too much to have this in two places, edit me, but here it is: "Writing for teens involves a stripped-down technique. You tend to write more like Hemingway than Faulkner. More like Emily Dickinson than T.S. Eliot. It's not a matter of more complex thoughts, but the number of adverbs and adjectives. In the adult world, the number of adverbs and adjectives can be confused with great writing." The way I'd put it is that YA tends to be cleaner, and I don't mean that it avoids the f-bomb, I mean it's edited more carefully and doesn't contain as much pretension. Young readers have very little patience with pretension, and that's as it should be. I find writing for this audience wonderfully liberating.

YPB: Additionally, In your opinion, what's the most important thing in developing a "voice" when writing for or about teens?

JG: The big challenge with YA is getting into that 16-year-old perspective again and trying to keep it contemporary without forcing the voice, you know? Sometimes it's tempting to go overboard with slang just to show how "hip" you are, and that's kind of repellant. I think teen readers sense right away how inauthentic that is.

YPB: Tell us a little about what are you working on right now?

JG: The sequel: Triple Shot Bettys in Love. It's loosely based on Cyrano de Bergerac. Amber has a larger role in this; her low self esteem and lack of intellectual identity get fleshed out more. Geena and Ben are still major players, but (as you might guess) the road to love isn't exactly smooth. There are wigs and valentines and lots of coffee, as usual. We're looking at January 09 as a possible pub date. Next I'm working on a YA novel about a girl who goes undercover at a boys' boarding school.

Jody Gehrman doesn't pull any punches when it comes to painting a true picture of today's average high school junior. In Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, parents repeatedly disappoint, the charming star-jock is really a jerk and the seemingly promiscuous "town-bike" character is actually still a virgin. There's a lot of discussion of sex, partying, and overall bad behavior too. Initially I was a little bummed out at some of the language. I know, I know, I sound like a total prude but there are a lot of "hos, bimbos … and beeatches." As I continued to read, though, I began to think about the audience and slowly came around. The language here reflects the real atmosphere in which girls live today. The book is for them and that's how a lot of teens talk. (Ultimately, that's what made me sort of sad.) In the end, I concluded Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty had an honest tone and actually offered some good insight and a funny story focused on girl-power and friendship.

Ypulse readers, the first three of you to share a personal girl-power story will win a free copy of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty.

YPulse Books: Confessions of a Triple-Shot Betty is based on William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', what are some of the challenges of reworking such a classic? What made you decide to form your story in this way?

Jody Gerhman: Plot has always been my Achilles heel, and I find tremendous comfort in reworking old stories. Shakespeare is particularly fun to work with, since most of his plays are based on even older legends and tales–I figured if he did it, there's no shame in trying it myself. Much Ado seemed very appropriate for a book about teenagers, what with all the romantic deception and reputation-ruining scandals running through it. But it wasn't easy. In many places I had to work hard to modernize and update, since our values and everyday lives have changed so much in the last 400 years.

YPB:You discuss class a lot and the main characters also seem very aware of their soci-economic standing. Now, I'm not super familiar with the town, Sonoma (California), and I haven't read 'Much Ado About Nothing' since high school, but how much did one or the other inform your choice to make that an issue in Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty?

JG: I grew up very near Sonoma, in a town called Healdsburg. When I lived there it was a small, modest, fairly unremarkable place, but since then it's become extremely posh and touristy.
I did have a friend in high school whose family made a lot less than mine, and she was painfully aware of that. It helped me see that when you have what you need as a kid money might not seem like an issue, but when you have noticeably less than your friends, it can be very embarrassing and isolating. These days I think that's much more apparent in Sonoma County, because the rich there are very rich and those whose families are barely scraping by no doubt feel the gap between themselves and their wealthy peers.

YPB: My experience with teens today is that the "f" word (feminist) is not very well liked. Amidst a lot of misogeny there is a feminist message, a few actually, in this book. You even made one of the secondary characters a women's studies major. (Gasp!) Can you talk a little bit about how you arrived at the decision to incorporate that in Geena's world?

JG: Well, I know what you mean about the f word, so maybe it was dangerous, but mainly I find it's a semantic issue more than anything. The teen and twenty-something students at the college where I teach generally believe in women's rights, and they're all for women having a wide range of choices; I think the word "feminist" just tends to conjure images in their minds of man-hating females their mothers' age with bad haircuts and poor hygiene. I don't think I had this intention as I was writing, but in retrospect I'd like to think that Geena and her friends help to bridge that generation gap somehow and (in some tiny way) can demonstrate that whatever you want to call it, girls' empowerment is a good thing.

YPB: Furthermore, Geena and her friends don't seem to have many good adult role models (men or women) and Geena's own grit seems to come from within. What advice can you give girls who look around and feel discouraged by the adults in their lives?

JG: When I got into Geena's head, many adults started to look sort of inept and out of it. I mean I think her mom and uncle are reasonably cool–even her dad cares about Geena in his own flaky, self-absorbed way–but they're not really the focal point of her world. I didn't try to do this; it's just what sprouted naturally from her POV. If girls are discouraged by the adults in their immediate sphere, I guess I'd say look beyond to the public forum, to writers, teachers, trailblazers, scientists and artists they can admire. Also, I'd say having some compassion for the over-thirty set helps. It's not easy getting old, and many of us lose something along the way. That's part of what the under-thirty crowd does so well — they can inject the older generations with new life.

YPB: You've written a lot for an adult audience and this is your first book for teens. How do the experiences differ? How are they the same?

JG: I just answered a similar question for another interview, and I quoted Sherman Alexie, a little gem I found on your site (I gave you credit, naturally!) Okay, so if it's too much to have this in two places, edit me, but here it is: "Writing for teens involves a stripped-down technique. You tend to write more like Hemingway than Faulkner. More like Emily Dickinson than T.S. Eliot. It's not a matter of more complex thoughts, but the number of adverbs and adjectives. In the adult world, the number of adverbs and adjectives can be confused with great writing." The way I'd put it is that YA tends to be cleaner, and I don't mean that it avoids the f-bomb, I mean it's edited more carefully and doesn't contain as much pretension. Young readers have very little patience with pretension, and that's as it should be. I find writing for this audience wonderfully liberating.

YPB: Additionally, In your opinion, what's the most important thing in developing a "voice" when writing for or about teens?

JG: The big challenge with YA is getting into that 16-year-old perspective again and trying to keep it contemporary without forcing the voice, you know? Sometimes it's tempting to go overboard with slang just to show how "hip" you are, and that's kind of repellant. I think teen readers sense right away how inauthentic that is.

YPB: Tell us a little about what are you working on right now?

JG: The sequel: Triple Shot Bettys in Love. It's loosely based on Cyrano de Bergerac. Amber has a larger role in this; her low self esteem and lack of intellectual identity get fleshed out more. Geena and Ben are still major players, but (as you might guess) the road to love isn't exactly smooth. There are wigs and valentines and lots of coffee, as usual. We're looking at January 09 as a possible pub date. Next I'm working on a YA novel about a girl who goes undercover at a boys' boarding school.

Recently I posted a few observations about YA book covers. I'm don't think most readers know what goes into creating the final product they see on the shelf at their library or local bookstore, namely its cover art.

A friend at Scholastic suggested Ypulse Books interview someone in the biz about this issue. (Thanks Tracy!) David Saylor, VP, Associate Publisher & Creative Director, Scholastic Hardcover Books agreed to answer some of our questions and enlighten us on this subject of "wrapping" books. We all "judge books by their covers" and it's helpful to know what goes into the cover-making process.

YPulse Books: What are the primary objectives in designing book covers for young adult books?

David Saylor: The primary objective of any cover, for any age reader, is to attract attention. We strive to create covers that make someone want to pick it up. Our other objectives are to give a reader a feeling for the book and what it might be about. We're trying to invite readers into the book and the jacket is the invitation.

YPB: Describe the process of designing a book cover for a given title. Are there certain steps that you always take or is it a different process each time?

DS: Most books follow this pattern: Once the editor acquires a book, the art director/designer gets a synopsis and a copy of the manuscript. Sometimes the manuscript is in great shape, but more often it's a draft, before the author has completed revisions. The art director/designer reads the manuscript, then they meet with the editor to talk about some ideas on how the cover might look. Sometimes the discussions are very general, such as deciding on a photographic approach or a commissioned piece of artwork. That's followed by more detailed thoughts on what the image might be, what the characters look like, what the tone is. Basically the editor and designer must come to an understanding of how best to sum up the book visually.

YPB: Do designers read the book?

DS: I encourage all our designers and art directors to read the books. It's possible to come up with an effective cover based on a summary or a premise, but I've found that it really helps to know the book. Without reading the manuscript, an art director/designer can miss the essential nuances that make a wonderful cover.

YPB: How much dialogue takes place between the author and the designer/artist in developing covers for young adult titles?

DS: There's usually a lot of discussion between the editor and art director/designer. Sometimes the author is very heavily involved in approving or directing the cover, sometimes less so. We always want the author to love the cover and to feel good about it; after all, it's their book and they are out promoting it in the world, so they should feel good about it. But beyond pleasing the author, there are often many other people to please: Our in-house sales, marketing, and publicity groups, and beyond that, sometimes booksellers/buyers, weigh-in on important books. They need to feel they can effectively sell a book to their customers, and sometimes they have invaluable feedback about what works (or not) in their stores. Considering how many groups and people we sometimes need to listen to, creating an effective and dynamic cover can be a daunting task.

YPB: Is there anything you stay away from….the proverbial "kiss of death" in designing book covers, especially for teens?

DS: I think the worst thing that we can do for a cover for teens is to make it look too young for the age group we're trying to reach. Teens could just as easily read adult books, so we're competing with sophisticated cover designs that are targeted for adults. We can't create covers that look typical of what's expected for kids' books. There was a time when YA titles looked absurdly dated, but those days are long gone. They have to look as fresh, engaging, and hip as any adult book.

YPB: How important is a book's cover? Do you have any anecdotes or research regarding their impact?

DS: Book covers are essential. For quite a while now, the best (and often the only) marketing tool for a book was its cover. I don't think there's any research to back that claim up, but in my years of working in children's books, the emphasis on creating exactly the right cover has gone from 0 to 60. Not that editors and designers didn't care about creating great covers in previous decades, but the expectation for YA books was pretty low 10 years ago, both in terms of sales and in terms of attention in the marketplace. Now that YA titles are selling in the millions sometimes, there's no ignoring the fact that there is a market for teen books and that without a great cover, a book can definitely be hurt in the marketplace if it doesn't look contemporary, engaging, or exciting.

Thank you so much David. Your responses were great and I think give us a better understanding of what goes into the "look and feel" of a book.

In Indie Girl, a new non-fiction title from Zest, writers Arne Johnson and Karen Macklin inspire and encourage girls to rock their inner artistic side. Projects like "Publish a Play" are introduced, and readers are encouraged to make them happen, DIY style. What a refreshing concept! Not only is this book super-fun with great ideas, it's chock-full of great resources too. I spoke with the authors about this fabulous, coolsville-cool book and asked them about what the Indie Girl spirit is all about.

Ypulse Books Readers: This is your chance to brag! Be one of the first three people to post a comment about the most creative DIY (Do-It-Yourself) project you've ever embarked on, and we'll send you a free copy of Indie Girl.

YPulse Books: This book feels "old-school" to me while still being respectful of teen girls as they are today. What do you think of some of the newer ways teens are being creative using technology?

Arne Johnson: It's all amazing! I'm a filmmaker, and without the innovations of technology we would've never been able to make "Girls Rock!" Technology has many strange side-effects, but in the world of cultivating creativity it's been a resoundingly good thing! Think of all the independent labels and bands that can exist by making their own CDs or building audiences online…When I was young, the idea of starting a band and producing your own album and actually getting it heard seemed impossibly remote. Now bands of 12 year olds are self-releasing their first albums and making short films. The main thing I hope teens won't lose sight of is the struggle to make things cool and beautiful and meaningful even as technology makes things easier. Just because you can make a mini movie in 5 minutes with your cell phone doesn't mean you should…take some time, think it out, get people involved, be passionate about what you're making…and then use your cell phone!

YPB: And in addition, What are some ways that "new-school" tech-savy kids could incorporate the arts more and the "indie girl" spirit in particular?

AJ: I think people are doing lots of cool things at the intersection of different art forms. Despite our book being about 9 separate projects, there's no reason those can't be merged together and exploded into new forms. A music video competition while a concert is underway, for instance…Part of the indie girl spirit, in fact, the most important part, is to take things like our book, read them, absorb them, and then ignore what you want to ignore, and learn what you want to learn, and make something that's completely your own. The great thing about tech-saavy kids is they don't care so much about all the old rules, they're just inventing stuff right and left. This book is hopefully just a reminder that there's a lot involved in making something that attains to higher impact than making your friends laugh at something on YouTube, but that it's not that daunting. For real indie girls, the process will be as important as the process, a way of learning who you are while doing something that you love.

YPB: Who are your "indie girl" heroes?

AJ: What a long list I could spring on you! But I'll try to limit it to two biggies for me:

1. Patti Smith, musician, artist, poet, etc…She is the true epitome of doing whatever you're interested in no matter what other people say or what you look like or anything. She used to take a clarinet on stage and start blowing into it even though she wasn't formally trained. Now she's a great clarinet player! She is just utterly fearless…

2. Lynda Barry, cartoonist, artist, novelist…Her cartoons and novels are pretty much the best depiction of being a teenager I've ever read, and she doesn't compromise at any point. She writes a novel and does great illustrations. She write comics like they were a novel…Beautiful, funny, sad and strange.

Karen Macklin: I have a lot of fave indie girls, but I think one of my favorites is PJ Harvey because she really pushed the envelope regarding what girls are supposed to sing about and look like, and is always up there raising hell with the guys. I have also historically been a big fan of Eve Ensler (the author and performer of the original Vagina Monologues) because she took a female subject that was taboo to really the entire world, put it on stage, made it a household conversation, and went on to raise millions of dollars for girls' and women's causes locally and throughout the world. And it all started with a simple, one-woman show.

YPB: Along the same lines, what is the coolest and most original DIY effort you've experienced?

KM: My good friends and I put on a show for the SF Fringe Festival one year in which we wrote, directed, and produced three short plays of our own. It was such an amazing collaborative experience, and almost all of the primary artistic roles were taken by women: the writers, the director, the choreographer, the lighting designer, the stage manager, the producer, and even the two people who ran the light and sound boards. I am pleased to say that we never got into one argument the entire time because we were so focused on the art and really listening to and respecting each other's ideas. It was a lot of work, but so much fun.

YPB: I know this is sort of a DIY manifesto, but any suggestions or words of wisdom for the mentors and teachers of indie girls?

KM: The biggest advice I could give is simply to just do it. Pick a project, any project, and make it happen. Pick a crew, set deadlines, and go forward. Art-making is a great team experience, but it is not a sport. There is no championship you are trying to get into or a number of goals that you are trying to score. In art, it is as much about the process as it is about the finished product. Form a group, come up with a plan and a schedule (very important!), and set the wheels in motion.

YPB: I once took an acting class. I loved it. Learning about the process and technique involved in what might seem like the smallest scene was really mind-expanding. Well, I discovered I'm no actor, but the experience was invaluable because now I watch film, television, and plays in a totally new way. I have a completely heightened appreciation.

I like how in the instruction of the projects presented in Indie Girl, you inadvertently also show us how to be more appreciative of the art we encounter. It helped me understand the planning and work that goes into a particular project in a way that I know will make it more full-filling to me as an observer. I guess what I'm saying is, this book has a lot to offer 'Indie Girls' in the audience too. Thank you.