Zielin, Lara

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.


One day, on Twitter, I ran into Lara Zielin. She likes donuts. In fact, she wrote a novel called Donut Days. The photo accompanying her Twitter profile captured her inside a Dunkin' Donuts. How could I not like this woman?

Then I discovered we share a birthday.

Well, obviously, we are twinsies.

She writes young adult fiction, aimed primarily at girls, and I found her first novel, Donut Days, to be just delightful. Favorite quote: "I was just thinking it might be easier if we all worshipped donuts or something. I mean, they taste good and they never hurt anybody."

Her next book, The Implosion of Aggie Winchester, comes out later this year. Lara graciously sent me an advance copy and I've been enjoying it quite a bit so far (not done reading it yet). Lara really captures voices and does a terrific job of portraying recognizable characters trying to handle the dramas of high school-era life.

And this latest book has a character named Neil in it.

Lara Zielin, quite obviously, is my FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER.

She's also a dynamite editor, and you can even take advantage of her editing services at her Help for Writers site.

She's also the owner of a Sharktopus, so be careful when you approach her.