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Novelist Katrina Kittle took a leap. After three very successful novels with some very grown-up themes, she turned her eye to writing her first novel for the young adult market. So what makes writing a novel for young adults different?

The best piece of advice I got on writing for young adults came from the amazing editor Sharyn November at Viking. She's the one who encouraged me to write for a younger audience in the first place, writing me a letter out of the blue after she read The Kindness of Strangers.

She very kindly told me she loved the boys' voices, thought I wrote young people well and asked whether I'd ever considered writing a young adult novel. At the time I hadn't, and I didn't really understand the difference between writing for adults and for younger people.

Based on her encouragement, though, I set out to do it. Her great advice came when she read a first draft of Reasons to Be Happy.

"I want you to forget your audience," she told me.

I thought that was nuts, but she explained, "I see you picturing this room full of middle school girls. Forget them. I want you to write a Katrina Kittle novel like you always do. The only difference is that all the protagonists happen to be teenagers. Don't change anything else."

That made such sense to me. Young adult literature covers every conceivable topic these days. There is nothing considered taboo. If you water down, sanitize or try to shelter readers from the reality of your topic, they will smell it a mile away. Teen readers are the same as ... well, teens in general. There's nothing they hate more than something they know is inauthentic.

-Katrina Kittle

Katrina Kittle, a member of the 2012 Bombeck Workshop faculty, has been blogging her own daily reasons to be happy since July 1. Today's reason? Bowling shoes. This editor's pick? You'll just have to click here.