First and foremost, let it be said that I am reading a book intended for someone half my age. Artemis Fowl is the kind of book that grabs a kid by the eyeballs because of the pretty, shiny cover. But once the cover's open and the story laid out, Artemis Fowl is an incredibly gripping story about growing up, equality and acceptance. This was exactly the case when I first read Artemis Fowl; I immediately loved the intelligent, resourceful, but ultimately unhappy Artemis. A better character a teenager could not have asked for: Smart enough to forgo schooling for months at a time, rich beyond my (then considerable, now perhaps less so) imagination, and he was searching for a world of magic and fairies that every kid wants to believe in.

It surprises me that even now, a decade later, the book still absorbs my imagination. "Artemis Fowl" taught me a little about writing for your audience exactly because the book is just as enjoyable and relatable as it was before. It's important to write with an audience in mind; Colfer here writes for children, and the child in me recognizes it. The spark of imagination that wants to believe in fairies and gnomes and magic rejoices. If only you could make all writing this lovable, simply by writing for an audience instead of to it. Oh, wait. You can!