Things I have in common with my characters:

• I went to a small private school like Vanessa (Plan B)
• I was also mildly obsessed with college from fifth grade on, thanks to a book I read in which one of the characters went to Dartmouth (Plan B)
• I lived in Chicago (Plan B)
• My mother tried her best to raise a very polite daughter, much like Emily (The Book of Luke)
• I went to Smith College (The Book of Luke)
• I now live outside of Boston (The Book of Luke)
• I’m not a morning person, but I love the early mornings on Martha’s Vineyard, like Kendra does (Local Girls)
• I’m sorta afraid of ghosts, but I love the Edgartown ghost tour (Local Girls)
• I order chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles every single time, just like Winnie (Rich Boys)
• I babysat all the time growing up, which provided years of funding before I got a “real” summer job my junior year of high school (Rich Boys) 

Things I don’t have in common with my characters:

• My brother was not a TV star and he didn’t drive me crazy (Plan B)
• I never created a how to guide for guys – although I wish I had one when I was in high school (The Book of Luke)
• My best friend in high school never moved away – thank God (Local Girls)
• I never fell for my best friend’s brother – he was a lot older and probably never even noticed me (Local Girls)
• I don’t live on Martha’s Vineyard, but I often wish that I did (Rich Boys)
• I never worked at a summer camp (Rich Boys)
• I didn’t have a sister who loved to bake yummy muffins – my brother was a Twinkies kind of guy (Rich Boys) 

I also write adult fiction books as Jennifer O'Connell. You can find out more about my books at http://www.jenniferoconnell.com/.