Well, she does now.
Myracle's MySpace page lists more than 2,500 "friends," something she once considered so inconceivable that one of her novels makes an eyeball-rolling reference to a girl trawling so earnestly for MySpace friends that she ends up with 1,000.
"In the book, the Winsome Threesome (the three girls whose instant messages constitute ttyl, ttfn and l8r, g8r) are, like, 'Who has 1,000 MySpace friends?' But it wasn't long after that I had 1,500 friends, and then 2,000," Myracle said.
On the other hand, she's quite liberal about "friending" people, accepting most requests to add a name to her MySpace friends list.
She checks the requester's MySpace page and accepts nearly anyone who looks like a teenager, and rejects everyone she describes as "someone who looks like a porn star."
"I'm not really me on MySpace - I'm the author of books for younger teens," she said.
"My son will say, 'Mom, you're famous!' And I do get a lot of teens and tweens writing to me. It's awesome. I'm kind of in the role of a big sister who likes them unconditionally and tells them that their job is not to try to fit in, and no, they don't have to kiss a guy just because he's popular, and other advice I wish someone had given me when I was their age.
"The danger is that some of them think I really am their friend, which I'm not. Sometimes they can be more intimate with me than they need to be, in terms of sharing things."
Girls send e-mails to Myracle to consult her thoughts on whether they should sleep with their boyfriends - a trusting naivete that makes her shake her head. (She counsels them to go immediately to their mothers, and cautions them that "this is a big deal, and not to be entered into lightly.")
One girl was 11 when she initiated an e-mail correspondence that lasted well into her teens. In time, the e-mails grew darker and darker. The girl confided that she thought seriously about suicide. Then she sent Myracle a "farewell" e-mail.
"It scared the crap out of me," Myracle said.
"I had no contact information for her, other than that e-mail address. I wrote her and said, 'Don't! Here's my number. Call me!'
"Then I got onto MySpace and went to different friends, explaining who I was and why I was asking for her number. One girl sent me her number and I called, and I said, 'Hey, this is Lauren Myracle,' and she answered, and she was floored."
Myracle exacted the girl's promise to get help, and today feels optimistic about her outlook.
"It's that tricky thing of wanting to be human, and do the best job you can ... ," Myracle said.
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