I don’t know where this puppy came from but we were great friends for about an hour or two.
Portrait of the artist as a young Annie:
I grew up in Rhode Island and have been writing stories ever since I could tape pieces of paper together. My first “book” was titled Rabbit and Bear, about two unlikely friends who narrowly escape a crazed hunter. Needless to say, it did not win the first grade author competition.
For a while I thought that writing was something everyone did for fun. One day when I tried to force my friend to play writing games with me, my mom had to explain to me that sometimes people liked to play non-writing games. So I majored in English, which meant all my classmates liked books as much as I did.
On the bulletin board above my desk.
When I’m writing:
I write contemporary young adult novels. My debut novel, The Chance You Won’t Return, is now available from Candlewick Press. I’ve loved YA since I was a teen and am fascinated by this category–it’s all first chances and heartbreak and love and loss and those moments that made you who you’re going to be for the rest of your love.
A few must-haves for writing time–lots of water, a cup or two of coffee or tea (depending on time of day), a good writing playlist.
It’s more fun to run when people are throwing color at you.
When I’m not writing:
One of my favorite non-writing activities is cooking/baking. Baking bread in particular makes me feel like a wizard. I also like painting my nails in all sorts of colors (purple! blue! green! yellow! sparkles!), running, watching movies new and old, going to the theater, and blogging about all sorts of writing- and book-related goodness.
A few books I love recommending to people are The Giver, Mrs. Dalloway, The Princess Bride, Story of a Girl, The Commitments, Jellicoe Road, and The Scorpio Races.
Annie Cardi 