She talked a bit about how she watched her mother die, and then get resuscitated right in front of her. From this, she realized that teens do need their parents.
And since then, she hasn't been afraid to write what she knows. And I don't mean that she sets her books in the town she lives in, or that she bases a character on someone she knows.
I mean, that she writes what she knows emotionally, and she's not afraid (remember to be brave!) to do it, even if it's not popular.
I think sometimes we write to a trend, instead of writing what we know. And it's those books that are written by people who know that are truly meaningful. A.S. King wrote a book that she knew. She was brave enough to do it, and she said during her speech that she was grateful she found a publisher that would "put up" with her crazy stories.
So when I heard A.S. King speak, I felt empowered to write the way I want, no matter how popularity played into it.
Are you digging deep to write what you know?