Towards the end of my high school career, and for a a couple years after graduation, there was this boy. He was interested in me, and he made no effort to hide that. My friends all knew it; I knew it, and, truth be told, I was interested in him as well (though I was not so open about my affection). But nothing ever happened between the two of us. We never went on a date, never held hands, never kissed.

When I look back and remember this boy, I can’t help but to wonder. What if we had dated? How would things be different today? Would we still be together? Would I have gone to massage school? Would I be writing books? What if?

Both this boy and I are now completely happy with our lives and the spouses we share life with. I don’t regret anything that has happened in my life or any of the choices I have made, but I still wonder sometimes.

This is just one more reason why I like writing (and particularly writing YA) so much. All of those what-ifs? I can take them and play out any scenario I want. The object of Jack’s affection (Jack the Reaper) is much like this boy I knew in high school. Only Jack handles things differently than I would have did, and she gets the boy.

With my writing, I can explore all those things I never explored when I was a teenager*. My characters have different experiences than I ever did, and through writing them, I can have those experiences as well.

*Let’s be honest here: I was a pretty boring teenager. I took a bunch of AP classes, was on the high kick team, and was an athletic trainer/basketball manager. Not much time left for “normal” teenage behavior. Not that I would trade my experience for anything; it is just nice to live vicariously through my characters and their different experiences as well.