I wrote Feasting with a Silver Spoon after a friend of mine (you might know him from Beach House) suggested it. I had an enjoyable time writing it but didn't think it would be well-received because it was basically a chronicle of a year in the life. It turned out to be a lot more popular than I could have imagined - undoubtedly because of my description of the LowCountry.
I hadn't planned on writing Summertime, but, since there was such positive feedback for Silver Spoon, I sort of dabbled at it for a while. So, I tried some new things.
I shared work experience and cultural lessons with Hector's people and then with our trip to Puerto Rico. A couple of chapters would have been easier to write in Spanish than English, but I don't think my readers would have appreciated that. Again, I've had surprisingly good response.
In both of these stories, the backdrop has been pretty important but it's probably really the people. So many people have the opportunity to have a big impact on a teen. Franklin was, and is, an enormous influence. Timex, Dane, Doctor Legare, Coach Miller, and more, each played a part.
And Veronica. She was so difficult to figure out.
At any rate, I'm sort of working on sophomore/junior year. We'll see what happens. As always, I appreciate your feedback.