Your Day #6 Line-Up:

Justina Chen Headley at Big A, little a: "I write for teens because these novels explore the mysteries of life, have all the cheeky fun of chick lit, and every bit the merit of literary fiction. Enough said."

Ysabeau Wilce at Shaken & Stirred: "Economies and infrastructures are often overlooked in created worlds, and it drives me batty when Fantasylands have no obvious GDPs or manufacturing bases. (Which is a bit of a joke, really, because although my husband is an economist, in real life I never understand any economic stuff at all!)"

Dana Reinhardt at Bildungsroman: "When I started writing the book I knew that Rivka was going to die. That was the plan from the beginning. I simply couldn't fathom writing a book about faith that didn't deal with death."

Julie Anne Peters at Finding Wonderland: "The book coming out next year, By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead, was written during a two-week trance during which I was completely possessed. I woke up one day and had this finished manuscript sitting on my desk. When I read it, I thought, Holy shit. This is the best work I've ever done—if I did it. (I'm having graphoanalysis experts verify the handwriting as we speak.)"

Cecil Castellucci at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: "The thing about writing for Young Adults is that is the moment in life when you are declaring and figuring out what kind of a human being you are going to be. You are deciding everything and everything is a first time. That's an incredibly compelling fertile place for story telling. As a writer, it's an irresistible one."

Bennett Madison at Bookshelves of Doom: " Literary Crush (fictional): DIRK from Weetzie Bat. The mohawk, the red convertible, the slightly wounded soul. So hot. But once I met someone in real life who seemed a little bit like Dirk and I realized it works better on paper."

Holly Black at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: "Five years ago, Tithe was a couple months from coming out. I was in living in New Jersey, with a slightly damp office in my basement, working as a medical market researcher and studying to be a teen librarian. I kind of felt like I didn’t know what to do with myself because for so long my only dream had been to sell a book and, having done it, I had no idea what to want next."

Justine Larbalestier at Hip Writer Mama: "The first time someone wrote me to tell me about reading my books I was so surprised. Not to mention moved. I'm a reader. There are so many wonderful books that are an incredibly important part of my life----books like Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia trilogy. I can't imagine my life without them. So to have some people write to me to explain how much my books mean to them, well, it's beyond words."

Kirsten Miller at A Fuse #8 Production: "I collect strange facts the way crows gather shiny objects. (Actually that crow thing is a myth.) You’d think I would be a big hit at cocktail parties, but surprisingly few adults want to hear about the giant pigs that once roamed New York’s streets or the carp that spoke in Hebrew to workers at the New Square Fish Market. Thank goodness for twelve-year-olds."