The Girl Across the Water

Jody Kihara

Jody Kihara is an author of children's and teen fiction. She writes for several different age ranges, from chapter books to mid-grade to young adult. Her younger children's books are humorous, and her mid-grade and YA books usually have a strong element of adventure or mystery. You can learn more about Jody's books at www.jodykihara.com. Her new novel, The Frankincense Trail, will be available in July/August 2011.

From the moment I discovered stories and books, I was hooked. When I was two years old, I begged people to read to me. Soon it became apparent I'd have to learn to read myself. And after that... the next natural step was writing. I wrote my first 'book' (illustrated in crayon and bound with tape) at age six. My teacher called my mom to the school because of it, and I thought I'd done something wrong! I didn't understand what the fuss was about... writing a book seemed such a natural thing to do.

Apart from two mysteries (very short, but written in real pen this time), I stopped writing for a while. Then I started up again in elementary school, when my best friend and I would rush home after school to write stories. Those stories were... well, let's just say they are never going to see the light of day! They were fun, though, and my best friend from all those years ago is currently one of my best editors!

Then came a long break when I finished highschool, went off to University, and all my writing time was taken up with exams and essays. Echhh. After that, I worked for many years in a variety of jobs. I was burned out after many years of working in music and theatre, so I decided it was time for a change, and that I should finally get back to writing. But it wasn't easy! I struggled through two long years of writer's block... and then finally wrote my next real 'book'. The next two and a half years were super productive -- I wrote about seven books!

I'm working on a mid-grade right now, and have another few novels sitting in the 'to be edited' pile. I also write for magazines and websites, besides having to work my 'real' job, so sometimes my book writing has to take a breather. And then comes the even more time-consuming part... editing them and trying to find publishers!

I write for many age ranges, from chapter books to Young Adult fiction. My favourites to write are mid-grade and Young Adult. Why? Probably because that was the time when I bonded most strongly with books. I always had a book on the go. In summer, I loved to put a tent up in the backyard and hang out there reading. I still remember my favourite