About Katy

I AM: The stay-at-home mom of an adorable five-year-old girl. The wife of a handsome US Army Major. An aspiring writer of contemporary young adult novels. A Washington State University Alum–Go Cougs! An avid reader of anything I can get my hands on. An enthusiastic runner. The owner of two needy and eccentric mutt puppy dogs. A dweller of Central California. A proud country music fan. A too-frequent shopper of Target and indi book stores. A lover of the ocean, pedicures, peanut butter, quilting, my laptop, warm summer days, Chipoltle, Pinterest, and Dirty Dancing & Wedding Crashers. A fan of Jelly Bellies, Entertainment Weekly, Breaking Bad, and Words with Friends.

WHEN I WRITE: I get cozy on the couch. I need silence. I read over and edit whatever I wrote the previous day before starting anew. I overuse the words just, suddenly, really, finally, and pulled. I am visual. I pull up and save pictures relating to my story’s setting, characters, and symbolism. If I feel a block coming, I exercise or eat Jelly Bellies. I sometimes chat with my writing friends simultaneously because my writing friends are golden.

FICTION I’LL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE:

Young Adult:
*The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
*Stolen by Lucy Christopher
*If I Stay, Where She Went, & Just One Day by Gayle Forman
*Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (anything by Melina Marchetta, really, but Jellicoe Road is my absolute favorite)
*Graceling, Fire, & Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
*Forever… by Judy Blume
*The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
*Chime by Franny Billingsley
*Looking For Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
*Daughter of Smoke and Bone & Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
*The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
*To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
*Anna and the French Kiss & Lola & the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
*Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
*Before I Fall, Delirium, & Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
*The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
*The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
*The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott
*Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth
*Under the Never Sky & Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
*Saving June by Hannah Harrington
*Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara
*How to Save a Life, Once Was Lost, & Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

All the rest:
*The Pact and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
*The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
*Prep & The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield
*The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
*The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory
*A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
*In the Woods & The Likeness by Tana French
*A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
*Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
*Pillars of the Earth & World Without End by Ken Follett
*Room by Emma Donoghue
*Gone Girl by Jillian Flynn

Ahh… A girl can dream.

Email me at katy.upperman@live.com and find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/katyupperman