Experience Counts

Many teens I’ve met when going on appearances are surprised to see a grandmother in their midst. They have asked “How do you know what it’s like to be a teen?”
Well, let me tell you kids. Despite seeming otherwise, I’ve been where you’re at. I can write about school violence because I experienced it when I was in high school. Not the level you see now, but it wasn’t a pretty sight for this then naïve fourteen-year-old to have tear gas hurled into a mob of rioting students or see the National Guard and police outside your school. Yes, I have been there. I’ve felt the fear and terror you have, even if it seems to have been on a smaller scale when viewed through my memories.
I won’t tell you that I know your pain. I can’t. It’s your pain. But I know my pain and fear. I can put those emotions into the pages of my books, and that’s what makes them so real.
This is how I create believable teen books, by leaning on my own experiences. Having your friends die in an automobile accident has been happening since the first teen got behind the wheel of a car. Losing someone you care about to domestic violence has been going on since humans inhabited the Earth. While you feel this is new and terrifying, those around you have gone through these painful events and probably many others.
What my books are designed to do is open a dialogue between you and your parents. That’s how my characters interact with their parents, or a trusted adult. If you know you have someone you can lean on, it will assist you with what you’re feeling.
Don’t give up on asking for help from an adult. We have been there, maybe not exactly what you’re going through but we have seen more than a few things in our lives. You’ll soon discover that sharing your pain will help you ease it away.


About the K.C. Sprayberry
Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.
She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.

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