An Open Letter To Adam Silvera's YA Self

I'm very excited to be featuring a few YA authors on the blog, writing their own Open Letters, through out this month. Not aware of this fab feature? Be sure to check out my introduction post HERE. You can also read my Open Letter To My YA Self post HERE.

Today's Open Letter comes from debut author Adam Silvera.  His YA novel, MORE HAPPY THAN NOT publishes June 2nd, a date that's been marked on my calendar for quite some time seeing as though I am SUPER excited to read this one!  I love his outlook on seeking happiness, and how it has the power to recreate itself.  Please welcome Adam to the blog with his Open Letter to YA Self.

Hey 19-year-old Adam,

First off, you never grow up to regret the Gemini glyph tattoo you got at 18. It's the Tattoo-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named on your back shoulder you should've really taken another week or two to consider. But clinics with affordable tattoo removal aren't a thing yet (like you confidently assumed they'd be) so what's done is done and we're moving on.

You will sell your first novel at 23-years-old. This will only surprise you because you were confident you'd sell a fantasy series at 21. Well, that fantasy book is still a pain in the ass years later. Instead, you will fall in love with a guy despite the girl whose affections continue confusing you. This guy will not be able to love you back in the way you hope but he will indeed love you and become one of your biggest champions. He will also become an emotional source for the book you ultimately write and publish, which explores nature versus science (which you still suck at later, I'm sorry to report) and he will be cool as hell when he receives the first advance reader's copy. He'll tell you the book will feel like a long flashback, even though it's not a memoir because, come on, you will finally grow into SOME humility and admit your life isn't memoir-worthy. But the heart of the book is recognizable to those who lived through it with you. And you have many cool moments like this to look forward to.

But it's going to suck first.

If everything were easy, nothing would be interesting. And finding your pain interesting is odd, but it's your own Life Story that will take you out of the fan-fiction universe and force you to confront your harsh truths in a fictional world not unlike your own (with the addition of a slight sci-fi device, because again, your life needed some kick to it). And damn, I legit want to hug you because you're about to go through your first true heartbreak without many people to talk to about it, and you're going to have Bad Thoughts on the roof of your first apartment (this exhaustion with life won't surprise you because of the mental illness that runs on your father's side of the family; it'll feel inevitable). But the dude who you mistakenly believe is killing you will be the one to save you, over and over. And this is the start to one of the most impressive friendships you'll find yourself in six years later.

Here's the lesson here: happiness is hard. Many things are going right in your life but it's not always going to feel like enough. In the summer after your 24th birthday you'll tell a date whom you're super incompatible with that you can't keep hanging out because you have a tattoo appointment, which isn't true, but you'll actually go and get a tattoo because you don't want to be a liar. The "H G O" tattoo is on your collarbone and and stands for "Happiness Goes On" because you'll learn over and over that no matter how tough life gets that happiness will find you again. But in the meantime you have to settle on being "more happy than not." (You'll get this reference two years from now when you're sitting in Central Park with Lara the Laptop.)

Mad love,
Slightly wiser, even taller-for-no-reason Adam
(Less than two months away from his 25th birthday and publication of his first novel.)

Adam Silvera's website | twitter | goodreads

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