Hi Veronica, Have you ever considered writing a fluffy, sweet book? Maybe a less serious topic than your previous books. I adore Divergent and Carve the Mark! But I'd like to see how you would use your style of in-depth, raw writing to write something super cute. I think it would be fun to push boundaries. What do you think?

Veronica Roth Listen, I'm gonna be real with you-- I have no idea how to even do that. Sweet books can be awesome and I'm so glad they exist-- but you have to write what interests you on a deep level, because you're going to spend a year or more living in that story, and at this point, seven books in, I know myself. I know that if I set out to write something like that, eventually I'd get frustrated and aliens would attack senior prom, or whales would sprout legs and crawl out of the sea, or the whole town would turn out to be vampires, or all three simultaneously. That's just how I am, and I like myself this way.

It's interesting that you frame this as an opportunity for growth, and as I frequently get questions about "would I ever write X or Y," I'm going to more broadly address that here: I have a house plant that keeps throwing new leaves left, right, and center. Before I understood how pruning works, I would let it-- and it resulted in a whole bunch of scrawny, insufficiently nourished leaves sagging on stalks that weren't strong enough to support them. Now I prune it regularly, and the leaves it keeps are sturdier and more beautiful. That house plant has taught me this: I can, if I choose, throw out shoots in every direction...but then each one will be smaller and less nourished. Or, I can channel my energy toward the leaves I already have. And I really love these leaves.

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