One of the best things about writing for teenagers is that, occasionally, I get to meet them either in person at school visits or through their e-mail messages.
Last week, I "met" a young man named Dylan. Late one afternoon, I got an urgent e-mail from Dylan, who is reading my book Home Invasion for school. Dylan wanted to know things like "who's the good guy and the bad guy?" and "what's the theme?"
My first thought was that Dylan wanted ME to do his homework. So I wrote back to tell him so. I suggested he answer the questions, then send his answers to me and I'd look them over.
But, as usual, the plot thickened (we writers LOVE when plots thicken!). I got another e-mail -- this one was from Dylan's uncle, who said he's helping Dylan with the assignment. At which point, I started to wonder whether Dylan really has an uncle who helps Dylan with school stuff -- or whether Dylan was pretending to be his uncle so that I would help him with his homework!
I'm still not sure what the answer is, though I'm beginning to believe there really is a kind uncle in the picture. If so, Dylan is a lucky guy. If not, Dylan has a great imagination -- which, of course, I also admire.
At any rate, today's blog entry is a shout out to Dylan and his uncle, too. You might be interested to know that I got the idea for Home Invasion after I got together with the man who is now my husband. My daughter was eleven at the time and she thought this new boyfriend of mine was a home invader!!