Write what you know.

This is the oldest advice in the book for those starting out on a writing journey.

And for the most part, this is what I do.

I use my own experiences and alchemize them into stories.

I write YA because I remember so vividly what it was like to be a teenager. I also spent a lot of time teaching in high schools and re-living my own teenage years vicariously through my students.

In between all the fabulous four and five star reviews of my YA books, sometimes people leave reviews saying things like "this is so unrealistic, all these kids do is drink and make stupid decisions."

If you didn't get drunk and make a stupid decision in high school, I salute you. Well done for getting through the experience unscathed.

But that was not my experience. Nor was it the experience of my friends in high school, or most people I just knew or those I just watched from afar. It was also not the experience of most of the kids I taught as a high school teacher.

Teenagers make bad decisions. Teenagers can be assholes. Teenagers get obsessed about things, whether that’s people they are crushing on, being cool, being pretty, these things are important to teenagers, and they are important to adults too, whether you want to admit that or not.

Most of us are still trying to find the right partner, be seen and be acknowledged in all stages of life.

I find it kind of ironic how many people want to write bad reviews of the Santolsa Saga which involve long rants about how much of a terrible person Magz is.

Magz a teenage girl who's going through a pretty rough time. Her parents ignore her, she gets her hair ripped out by a bully, the boy she likes doesn’t know she exists, she literally has no family or friends at one point and traveling through time would mess with anyone's head, and yet she's still somehow expected to be this perfect example of a teenage girl?

Someone please do tell me, how exactly *are* teenage girls supposed to act? Like perfect little angels? Should they smile sweetly at their bullies and marry the first boy who says I love you?

Should the teenage girls you read about in stories fit into nice neat little boxes, just like how you want them to in real life?

Also, why is it that people only want to talk about how terrible Magz is? No one mentions how neglectful her parents are, how horrible her bullies are, or how Jonas got away with doing what he did.

Quite a few reviews have blasted Lacey for being such a train-wreck, totally ignoring the fact that she’s been through some pretty heavy trauma that has played a huge part in how she navigates through the world.

I only hope to God that these people are more understanding of the people in their life than they are of book characters.

If you are looking for books about "perfect" teenage girls you will not find them written by me. Teenage girls are complex as hell, and that's why I love writing them.

I write what I know.

I know what it's like to be a teenage girl. I know what it's like to be bullied. I know what it's like to feel like you don't have a friend in the world. And let me tell you, at those times in my life I was not a perfect person, I was just trying to get through the day in one piece.

I write what I know. And I know Magz, because there is a lot of me in her. There is also a little me in Jack and in Lacey, and in Janet. There is even a little me in Jonas, because if we dig deep enough we will find that we can all be the hero and the villain of someone’s story.

One thing I do know for sure about Magz is that she would never waste her time leaving negative reviews on Amazon. She's too busy chasing her own dreams.

I hope you are chasing your dreams too. And I hope you never let the haters stop you from writing your book or doing whatever it is you want to do with your life.

And I shall keep writing my beautiful, fucked up, messy, imperfect teenage characters and remembering all the beautiful, fucked up, imperfect, messy teenagers I have known and loved, including myself.

Love,

Victoria

PS - Grab a copy of Class of 1983 here.