Sometimes When We Forget To Do Things

I've Written A Lot Of Novels For Teens And Tweens ... But I'd Never Really Tackled The North Carolina Side Of Me. And It's So Strong And So Important, And Yet I Hadn't Acknowledged It. And So One Of The Things I Wanted To Do In "shine" Is Take That On.

Hello Toes," I Say. They're Good Toes. I Like That They're Long And Slender And Not The Slightest Bit Stubby. I Wiggle Them, Ten Unstubby Waves That Say, "and Hello To You, Human Host!" Except They're Toes. I'm Talking To My Toes. Maybe I'm Not Bored... Maybe I'm Lonely?

If Everyone Started Off The Day Singing, Just Think How Happy They'd Be.

You Know, This Technology That We Have, And The Internet And Twitter And Facebook - I Get So Many Of Those Emails That Talk About Hard Times That Kids Have Gone Through, How Books Have Helped Them, But Also Happy Times.

And They Just Slam The Door. And They Don't Peek Into That Land Any More. And They Forget That Teens And Tweens Are People, Absolutely Just As Much As Adults Are. And Their Problems May Play Out On A Smaller Scale, But The Things They Go Through Are Equally As Valid As A Ceo Trying To Figure Out How To Deal With A Crisis At Work. I Just Write For Teens Because I Love 'em.