You know how you have one-hit wonders and musicians who have a good album but no real lasting power? I guess it’s like that in all art forms — writers with lasting power are reprinted. Others aren’t.

I don’t plan on having lasting power. That’s not what my work is about. There are lots of reasons to write, lots of reasons to want to be published, but aside from the typical “I have to write — I can’t not write,” I mostly just want to make light, easy entertainment. I want to give girls something other than their own lives to think about. Because life, especially in high school, can be tumultuous and depressing.

I want to alleviate a little of the loneliness of being a geek who does her math homework during lunch; I want to help inoculate girls against the antics of divas in choir or band or drama; I want to help them escape somewhere warm and funny and exciting for just a little bit while the girls in P.E. discuss who’s going with who and flaunt their B-cup Victoria’s Secret bras. I want to make life just a little bit more bearable for girls who have it like I did.

If I can do that, I’ve done my job.