I’m a morning person. An extreme one. Most days, I’m awake and rolling before 5 AM. Half an hour later, I’m happily planted inside my writing lair (even on weekends). Which means, when I tell people I’m that kind of morning person, I’m treated to no-end of long, horrified looks. But as much as you might think it, I’m not crazy. Getting up super early works for me. I love coffee, quiet, and the shadowy vestiges outside. I want full focus and a free spirit. I need my characters to show up, and if I’m up before dawn, they arrive on the front stoop of my mind in quick order. Some are polite and knock. Most don’t bother. They flip the door to my imagination open, walk in (usually in combat boots) and make themselves right at home. And I gotta say… That’s just the way I like it. So there you have it…just a little something about me. Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to follow me in all the usual places for book updates and special giveaways. Drop me a line anytime. I’m always happy to hear from you! Where to find me: Website: https://www.CoreeneCallahan.com Amazon Author Page:…

As a reader, I was never really interested in reading YA stories until a few years ago. I find them very compelling since the main characters are usually dealing with transition and emotional upheaval. What inspires you to write YA fiction? To me, they’re compelling because there’s so much our characters to deal with in such a short time and they’re not always ready for them. I love putting myself in the shoes of my heroines and seeing how they act/react. Life is suddenly very complicated. You’ve got your first love, first heartbreak, school, family, friends, the pressure cooker that is social media. When you’re a teenager, everything feels like a life-or-death situation. At least, that’s how I saw things back then! On top of all that, there’s the bewildering physical changes. And that’s just contemporary YA. Imagine what happens when you’ve got vampires, witches, ghosts, and/or aliens lurking around. Imagine if *you* are a teen witch and struggling to find your place in the world. It’s funny—I started writing YA fiction when I was about 13-15 and literally haven’t stopped. Like a lot of kids, I went through a turbulent time back then. The library was like a safe…

Black History Month is generally the time readers challenge themselves to read and learn with books centered around the theme of Black History Month. Books such as HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterley, and the upcoming SHINE BRIGHT by Danyel Smith, shed light on the accomplishments of various black people. Graphic novels such as WAKE by Rebecca Hall, and the MARCH trilogy by John Lewis, offer us a glimpse into the various tribulations black people have encountered in their quest for true equality. More recent books such as STAMPED by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and THEY CAN’T KILL US ALL by Wesley Lowery speak more on the issues we are still tackling even today in 2022. There are quite a few splendid nonfiction books about black history, but I’d like to challenge readers to start incorporating more black fiction authors into their reading throughout the year. I recently saw a statistic which indicates that nearly 90% of people don’t have a close friend of another ethnicity or race, and perhaps reading both fictional as well as nonfiction books written by people of color may be a starting place for some. …