The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.

I have friends who I know exclusively online. Out of the whole group, I've met one of them in person. The rest I connect with their senses of humor, their frequent tweets, and their profile pictures on Facebook.

When I write, sometimes I think of them. I think of how diverse they are, and I'm challenged to write for them, because they are book lovers like I am. When I can, I'm going to write a character into one of my novels who is collectively all these girls I know thanks to a podcast. This girl will be intelligent, witty, analytical, sensitive, and beautiful. And they'll be the first ones to buy my book in their Barnes & Nobles all across the country (and in Norway, too).