Many years ago I met with a book editor named Kristen Pettit and showed her some books I was working on, including An Off Year: we hit it off personally but she passed on my book, although that didn't prevent us from starting up a nice long-distance friendship. In between then and the more recent present, she took some time off work to start a family, but when she came back to her work, she thought of me while looking for some new projects. In May 2013, she offered me the chance to try out for a new series, one she described as "sweet friendship stories for voracious girl readers 8-12. The kind that devoured The Babysitter's Club." Well, I was the kind of girl who devoured The Babysitter's Club, plus I always wanted the chance to work with Kristen, so I said yes.

I was sent a synopsis for the series, penned by Cari Simmons, and for my particular book, which was to be called Best Frenemies. I immediately clicked with the story because a.) It was set on Chicago's North Shore, where I grew up (it even included a scene at Walker Brothers, where I spent many high school mornings before delayed-start "B-Days.") b.) It was about the growing pains of female friendships, which is something I can identify with even as an adult woman: what happens when your path with a good friend diverges, or you have a hard time blending your different friend groups? I was also happy that the book's protagonist was an unapologetically smart girl and that the book was not to be boy-centric, because frankly, I am not sure how I could write a realistic romance aimed towards 8-12 year olds.

I got the job after writing a few sample chapters and my assignment from there was to write a 40,000 word manuscript based off the longer synopsis I received. At first, it felt a bit odd to fill out a pre-existing concept, but I grew to really enjoy the process. First, I didn't have to worry about how to end it or where the story beats were, and also I got to do the fun parts of character development. I got to decide what the characters looked like and what made up their personality quirks, who filled out their world. Along the way I received some really good editorial feedback which is always painful at first (what do you mean, the thing I worked hard on isn't perfect as-is?) but is almost always for the best.

And so now today you can buy Best Frenemies in hard copy or for your e-reader. It being a middle grade novel, I don't expect all my adult friends and relations to check it out, but if you are a middle grade reader, or you work with or live with those that are, I think you'll enjoy the book no matter what age you are. I'm proud of it and I hope some kids out there enjoy it as much as I enjoyed those BSC books way back when.