Yesterday was a lucky day for me. My tomato plants survived the frost, snug in their little handmade hoodies. My flights were on time, my flights were (relatively) comfortable, and my luggage did not wander off on its own. AND I won a contest. I have never won a contest before in my whole life. And get this - I won ICE CREAM.

Coconut & Lime is my favorite food blog. (You really should check it out and try some of her recipes.) When I was inbetween flights at O'Hare Airport yesterday, I saw the announcement of a contest to win some of the new flavors of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. So I entered. I always enter contests; it's a case of blind optimisim overcoming decades of painful experience. But yesterday, I won! I don't know when the ice cream is coming, or what flavors will be in the box, but I'll let you know.

One of the nice things about jet lag is that it's really easy, as an East-coaster, to wake up wicked early for a sunrise stroll. San Jose is a very walkable and runnable city. I am staying on the campus of San Jose State University and went for a run last night through the surrounding neighborhoods. This morning I wandered through downtown, enjoying all the public art. While looking for an open coffee shop, I came across a cool memorial to Ernesto Galarza, called Man of Fire.

He was a brilliant author, activist, and organizer who fought for decent working conditions for farm laborers and educational opportunities for all.

The piece looks like a long dining room table, with objects that reflect Galarza's passions and accomplishments scattered on it.

See this memorial to his life and work, especially since we just celebrated International Labor Day yesterday and Cinco de Mayo on Monday, was a meaningful way to start the day.

I leave in a while to speak at Yerba Buena High School, then to Hicklebee's for a 4pm event and signing. You're coming, right? Please? Paleeeeezzzz?

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

He turns 79 today, but that's not how we're supposed to say it. He prefers us to note that he is "beginning his eightieth year." This way he gets to say he's 80 a year early, in the same way I started calling myself a teenager when I was 12. But we'll honor the request. After all, he's almost 80. That counts for something.

My father has been a profound influence on my life and on my writing. He is a poet, first and foremost. This means he sees the world through the eyes of a child, and his heart is pure, and his feelings are easily wounded. He is an alchemist who transmutes emotion into words into laughter and tears. He rages against social injustice and corruption and he cheers good intentions. He is a hopeless optimist. He does not suffer fools gladly. He is committed to the life of a Christian seeker. He is not allowed to touch chain saws, but he makes great soup. (There was a time when he made Very Bad Soup. The scene in SPEAK where the dad buries the nasty turkey soup in the backyard was inspired by one of Dad's earliest soup attempts in the early 1970's.) He likes Harry Potter. He has never forgotten the lessons of the Great Depression. He gave a poetry reading last month that left the audience in tears. He loves my mother.

My father is a great man.

In all honesty, I have to report that I did not think this when I was 13 years old. Our family went through a very, very rough decade (more like 15 years) and through much of it he confused me, bewildered me, infuriated me. I am sure I did the same to him. There was love underneath it all, but lots of pain was smothering it. So if you're having a hard time with your dad or mom or whoever today, take a deep breath and count to 80. Try to talk about it. The pain can be washed away and the love will grow.

My dad.

Today's mail takes us to Arizona.

Lauren writes: I am a student at Aprende Middle School and in Ms. Angelea Herrera's 8th grade advanced language arts class. We are currently working on a research paper and the main theme is to pick an author we've read and enjoyed. I personally chose you and your books because I've read all of the young adult books and enjoyed every single one.

While doing research I found a lot of information about your books and why you wrote them, but I haven't found any information telling my why you wanted to write and what your inspriation was to not only write but to also write in the young adult series.

Thank you for your time.

Say "Hi" to Ms. Herrera for me, Lauren. I was at your school a couple years ago and I loved it.

The concept of inspiration is one that I struggle with. Students (and teachers) seem to think that there is one way to answer the question. It should be simple, it should flow off the tongue. "How long does it take you to write a book?" "A year or two." "And where do you get your inspiration?"

It stops me cold every time.

Inspiration is a complicated thing. My books usually start in character. Melinda in SPEAK, Ashley in PROM, etc., etc., I see and hear them in my imagination before I understand what their problems are or have much of a clue about plot. Let's use Ashley as an example. I knew that I wanted to write about a kid in a working class family. But I didn't want the stereotypical working class family (I hate that), where all of the tragedies come out of the fact that sometimes money is tight. I wanted a fun, loving, wonderful family, with an 18 year old daughter who had no clue about what she was going to do after high school. If there was any inspiration for the book, it was the teens who come from that family situation who complained to me that they were tired of reading about middle and upper class suburban kids. So - they were my inspiration.

But, no, not exactly. Where did the idea for the prom come in? The crazy grandmother? The skeezy boyfriend? The plot twists at the pizza place, the math teacher, the dress? It is really hard to pin all of that stuff down. To be honest, I don't think I want to. Most of writing is hard work; ten hours a day at a desk trying to tell a good story. Inspiration feels like magic to me. It's the secret ingredient of writing. I don't want to know where the magic comes from. I just trust it will be there when I need it.

Bruce Coville used to say there was a secret store at the mall where authors bought their inspiration. Maybe I should just use that line.

And why do I write for teenagers? Because they are interesting and I like them.

Hannah writes: I am a student from Evergreen High School located in Northwest Ohio.In school we have to pick a favorite book and i picked yours ,Prom. We have to answer some questions on our author and one of the questions is ,Is your author still writting? If yes ,what is she currently working on? So all I need to know if your still writing books and if you are then I would like to know what it is called.Thanks for your time and write back soon please.

And Julie writes: I was wondering if you had any new books coming out soon.

I'm working on it. I'm still puzzling about how to fix one arc problem in this revision. Assuming I can fix it this week, the new book will be out next spring.

You guys want to know the title of the new book? I can't remember if I told you yet.