Let’s talk about young adult fiction for a second.

Writing YA is like opening a back door into someone’s soul right before they start putting up all the locks. It’s wild. It’s weird. It’s wonderful. And honestly? It’s one of the most creatively freeing things I’ve ever done.

When I first sat down to write Mr. Pisces (check out my post in "Other Writing" section of my site), I wasn’t thinking “this is a YA story.” I was thinking: this is a haunting, dreamy, ocean-drenched legend with romance, mystery, and some eerie tattoo magic—but then I realized something.

The story feels young. Not in a childish way. In a raw, electric, coming-into-yourself kind of way.

And that’s YA in a nutshell.

YA isn’t about the age of the characters. It’s about the firsts. The first time you fall for someone who’s dangerous. The first time you feel fate closing in. The first time you realize the world is lying to you—and the first time you decide to lie back.

What makes YA so powerful is that it speaks directly to minds that are still open. Teen brains? They’re chaotic, brilliant little thunderclouds filled with emotion, intuition, rebellion, and curiosity. They haven’t been flattened by taxes and 9-to-5 jobs and whatever the hell a mortgage broker does. They still ask what if. They still dream with the volume up.

And when you write for that kind of audience, the rules melt away. You can blend genres. Romance can be dangerous. Magic can come from a tattoo. Time can bend, hearts can break in poetic slow-motion, and the ending doesn’t have to wrap up in a nice, adult-approved bow. YA lets you build worlds where emotion is power, where identity is fluid, and where every decision feels like it might change everything—because sometimes, it does.

It’s not about dumbing anything down. Quite the opposite. Writing YA means respecting how intensely young people feel things. And honoring that intensity by not holding back.

So yeah, I write YA now. Not because I think teens need saving, but because they’re the ones who still believe the world can be rewritten. And honestly? That’s the energy I want to create in.

To all the writers out there thinking about jumping into YA—do it. Write the messy stories. The weird ones. The ones about tattoos that rewrite fate or girls who kiss ghosts or boys who talk to moons. Your story could be the exact thing someone needs at the exact moment their imagination is still brave enough to believe in something impossible.

And to the readers?

Keep reading weird stuff. Keep dreaming big. Keep letting stories haunt you. You’re the reason these words matter.