Author Molly E. Lee stops by to talk about hackers, coding, gender bias, and her new book, ASK ME ANYTHING

Thank you for having me! I’m so excited to talk all things ASK ME ANYTHING!

The concept for ASK ME ANYTHING came about from a collaboration between my editor, Stacy Abrams, and myself. Given the current social climate, we were both craving a strong female lead and the idea for Amber being a kickass coder was born. The rest of the story developed naturally and the deeper we dove the more Amber had to say.

The hacking element is incredibly important in the book and I spent almost an entire year researching it so it would be as authentic as possible. Luckily, I have a super-secret source that helped me speak all things hacker and be true to the culture that it represents. And it was so fun and refreshing to highlight Amber’s skills in coding.

The number of females in coding is finally increasing and I (much like Amber) hope to see those numbers continue to increase throughout the upcoming years. Coding is such an important skill to have, even in the most basic forms, because it’s the language of the future. Unfortunately, there are still girls discouraged from pursuing STEM courses or careers and I believe it’s important to feature female leads who are rocking out in these areas. But programs like Girls Who Code are doing amazing combatting those negative viewpoints.

Even when I was in school, I was told I shouldn’t join the after-school science program (not by my parents, thankfully) but by teachers and boys at school. I joined anyway because I loved creating science projects but I was the only girl in the club. And it was hard but worth every second.

And I hope Amber’s character—a coder who is as good or even better than the best boy hacker in the school—will inspire other girls who might be on the fence about joining coding programs. Or other, male dominated programs. Because there is absolutely no reason why women should be discouraged from any form of education or any program or any career field. Anyone who tells a girl that she can’t do something because of her sex is severely misguided.

Amber steps up to those kind of biases and gender stereotypes throughout the book and I hope young girls reading it will take that confidence if they’re ever put in a situation like that and use it to take a stand. Like the words stamped on Amber’s bracelet—prove them wrong. Prove to those who doubt with hard work, amazing innovation, and above all, don’t let them put you in a box.

I’m so grateful you had me over today to chat! I hope you’ll enjoy ASK ME ANYTHING when it releases on May 7th! Be sure to check out the EPIC giveaway I’m hosting in celebration of its release! Spoiler alert—there is a laptop up grabs!!!

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL BE RANDOMLY CHOSEN TO RECEIVE

– Signed-copy of Ask Me Anything
– Microsoft Surface Pro 6 with keyboard and pen
– Amber’s Zox bracelet
– Arrow extra-large Book Beau
– Custom Ask Me Anything tumbler
– Two Disney ColorPop lipsticks
– Hackers Blu-ray

*If an international entrant is chosen they will receive a $1200 Amazon Gift Card in equal value of prize shown.

Meet Molly E. Lee

Molly E. Lee is an author best known for her romance novels, the Grad Night series and the Love on the Edge series. She is a 1001 Dark Nights Discovery Author for 2017. Molly writes Adult and Young Adult contemporary featuring strong female heroines who are unafraid to challenge their male counterparts, yet still vulnerable enough to have love sneak up on them. In addition to being a military spouse and mother of two + one stubborn English Bulldog, Molly loves watching storms from her back porch at her Midwest home, and digging for treasures in antique stores.

About ASK ME ANYTHING

I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

But Wilmont Academy’s been living in the Dark Ages when it comes to sex ed, and someone had to take matters into her own hands. Well, I’m a kick-ass coder, so I created a totally anonymous, totally untraceable blog where teens can come to get real, honest, nothing-is-off-limits sex advice.

And holy hell, the site went viral—and we’re talking way beyond Wilmont—overnight. Who knew this town was so hard up?

Except now the school administration is trying to shut me down, and they’ve forced Dean—my coding crush, aka the hottest guy in school—to try to uncover who I am. If he discovers my secret, I’ll lose him forever. And thousands of teens who need real advice won’t have anyone to turn to.

Ask me anything…except how to make things right.

ISBN-13: 9781640636583
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Publication date: 05/07/2019

Filed under: Guest Post