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My teenage daughter was less than thrilled when I told her that I was thinking about chaperoning an overnight school trip so I could listen to the kids talk.  It would help with the y/a novel I’m writing, I explained.  I would never get their inside jokes she countered (and what fun is it to have your mom come along anyway?) When I thought about it, I realized the inside jokes didn’t matter.  Well, it didn’t matter if I got them or not.  What mattered is that they have them, just like my friends and I did when we were teenagers.  The heart of a story comes, for me, from my own childhood and adolescence.  The rest is window-dressing.     When I visit schools, kid ask where I got the idea for my “Winky Blue” books published by Mondo (grades 2-4).  The truth is, I always wanted a baby brother or sister.  In my mind, a baby would add a … Read on