Sometimes it can feel like there are more orphaned fictional characters than not. But is the trope really all that bad? Naomi and Melissa have both written characters with absentee parents in their books, and they're all for it!

• Naomi Gibson, author of Every Line of You, Game Over Girl
• Melissa Welliver, author of The Undying Tower, My Love Life and the Apocalypse
• Jamie Greenwood, creator & host of the Write and Wrong Podcast