SparkNotes

As someone who feels guilty about everything, including how guilty I'm always feeling, I relate to this Sparkler.

Once upon a time, I was in love with the English language. To be more specific, I was in love with literature—so in love that I have become president of my school's book club as well as an interning assistant for one of our English teachers. It seems, however, that lately the flames of passion for the art of dissecting the written word have died in me.

I want to hear where everyone got into school. Did your first choice accept you? Are you stressing about which school to choose? 

We already know that soon-to-be brunette bombshell Jennifer Lawrence will play Katniss in The Hunger Games movie. And now there's schmexy guy news!

This slideshow thrills me—look at wrinkly old Dorothy Parker ignoring that male model! Whatta woman!

It also makes me long for the days before Facebook, when writers could get work done without moving into a new apartment just to get away from the internet.

Claudia Gray is working on a werewolf romance set aboard the Titanic. Can we pre-order this masterpiece yet?? —Miss Marm

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer. It goes back farther than my ability to remember any realization. Probably as soon as I knew people wrote books, I wanted to write one.

Well, kinda.

The actual essay question was:

YOU GUYS! Guess who's gonna play Katniss in the movie adaptation of The Hunger Games?

Today's featured Dark Days author is Kimberly Derting, who's on Team Zombie! —Miss Marm

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve known that I wanted to write since I took journalism in the 7th grade. I figured out pretty quickly that I didn’t want to be a journalist, though, since they have to cover big events like wars and droughts and epidemics. I’m more of a stay-in-my-clean-safe-house-and-make-stuff-up kind of gal. Thankfully, that worked out for me!

I'm excited to announce that all this week, we'll be publishing interviews with authors of novels in the Dark Days series. I know many Sparklers aspire to be writers, and this is a great chance to steal ideas from get inspired by professionals. First up: Courtney Moulton, author of Angelfire. —Miss Marm

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Due to numerous learning disabilities, I had a very difficult time learning to read and wasn’t able to until the second grade. When I got to chapter books, I discovered the Goosebumps series by RL Stine and they changed my world. I loved the scary stories and couldn’t get enough. I collected just about every single one and when it still wasn’t enough, I began writing my own. My earliest stories involved murder mysteries, vampires, and haunted houses. I wanted to be just like RL Stine when I grew up and write books about the supernatural.

For Politics class I need to write a book review on a political non-fiction book. It's due in June but we are supposed to start reading now. Any suggestions? Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire is already taken...

I would recommend: