Why do you write Young Adult books?

  I love young adult because the audience is so much more willing to take a chance on the content. If I want to write about a cheerleader turned Undead or a video game come alive, I get to do that. My voice lends naturally to teen fiction and I think deep inside, I am really just a snarky sixteen year old.

  How long have you been a writer?

  My debut novel was Braced2Bite and it came out in May of 2006. I wrote another book prior to that one that has never been published.

  Are your characters based off of people you know?

  The answer is yes and no. Yes, in the sense that most of my characters are named after people I know or family because I would rather waste brain cells on the storyline than on the names for people. And no, though I might borrow a trait or two from someone I know, the character personalities are all made up in my head. A very scary place to be conceived, you can be sure.

  Are you as funny in real life as in your books?

  Yes and don’t believe a word my family tells you otherwise.

  What is the best part of being an author?

  I can work in my pajamas and slippers. Also, when I space out in the middle of a conversation, I can just claim I had a great idea for a book and people find it charming instead of rude. Oh yeah, people think writers are smart. Silly people.

  Do you get to hobnob with any famous authors?

  I think writers are the biggest fan girls when it comes to meeting their favorite authors. I go all stalker chick and squee in delight when they sign a book for me. Even though we have the same job, I think they are so much cooler than I am.

  What do you do for fun?

  Read. I love to read. I enjoy a rousing game of Rock Band with friends and family (The Robarios are constantly on tour, opening new songs and dominating city venues). My husband makes video games and we have a room devoted to console games. If you are going to be a geek, then you might as well be King of the geeks.