Friendship can be a bumpy road…

After In Deep was released, my editrix (and bestie) Anica Rissi told me she had an idea for a book: one about two very different girls who are shoved together on a road trip only one of them wants to go on. To make things even more interesting? They both have secrets they're trying to hide from each other. Oh — and their newly-married grandparents are at the wheel. 

Immediately, I was all ears. I hadn't written for tweens before, and I'd not yet plotted a road trip story (even though I went on many myself, especially when in middle school with my family). 

This would be the first time Anica and I'd collaborate on a book that was more her original idea than mine, but we'd had so much fun with Pure, After the Kiss, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts, Being Friends with Boys, and Criminal, I knew we could make magic together. And I was right. Anica's good ideas inspired me to have good ideas, and Drive Me Crazy is the resulting mashup of all our good ideas intertwined together.

Admittedly, there were moments of disagreement and misunderstanding along the way — just as there are in any relationship worth keeping,  We had to work hard sometimes to fit both of our big imaginings into one small container (kind of like Lana and Cassie trying to fit into one back seat), but working to communicate honestly and find compromise together made both the book, and our friendship, even stronger. 

I hope you, like Lana and Cassie (and me and Anica) find magic on the road of reading Drive Me Crazy. I look forward to your thoughts!