Law school probably isn’t the most common route through which to get a fabulous Hollywood writing job, but it worked for Ann Arborite Cherry Chevapravatdumrong.

After graduating from Huron High School in 1995 (full disclosure: we were classmates), she headed to Yale for a degree in psychology and then to New York University for her law degree — despite not really wanting to be a lawyer. “By the time I started law school, I thought, ‘This is not gonna happen,’” she said by phone from Los Angeles, Calif. “I didn’t want to go. I was interested in TV and writing, but I was just too scared.” And then there were her parents’ reminders of the value of a good education. Besides, New York City didn’t seem to be a bad place for a person interested in the entertainment industry, so she decided she’d at least show up.

“I thought I would drop out. But then it was a semester, and then a year, and then I’m halfway done so I might as well finish it. It was basically me delaying the inevitable."

That came pretty much the minute she had her degree in hand. “I said, ‘Forget it,’ put all my stuff in the car and drove to L.A. I didn’t know anyone, but I had no more school to go to.“I guess getting a job on a TV show was the ultimate goal in the back of my head, but I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it because the odds are against you,” she stated (or maybe more accurately, understated). “Until it happened, I had no idea it was going to work. So I just said, ‘I’m gonna try.’” She found a job as an assistant to an agent and started writing test scripts, working her way around as an assistant to TV executives until she landed on the staff of the Jason Alexander sitcom “Listen Up” — which lasted one whopping season. But she’d put in enough good face time to get an agent and make some contacts. “I feel like everyone does the same thing,” she said. “You’ve got to meet people and write the scripts.”

So when the animated series “Family Guy,” whose DVD sales from its short-lived first run so impressed 20th Century Fox Television that it made a historic comeback from cancellation, returned to the air in 2004, Chevapravatdumrong managed to get herself on board (and has since worked her way up to the position of supervising producer). Asked if it was a good fit, her answer is instantaneous: “Oh God, yes. I thought it was hilarious before I worked on it. I just like laughing all day; I think there are very few jobs where you know that 30 seconds after you walk in, everyone’s laughing. Our job is to show up and make each other laugh all day.”

Well, it’s a little more involved than that. After all the outlining, drafting, reading, table-reading with the actors, sketching, editing, sending to Korea (where the animation is done), returning and fine-tuning, it can be a year or more from the assignment of an episode to its airing. Which is kind of a long lead time. “I know!” she laughed. “We’re rewriting an episode now that isn’t going to be on TV until 2011. It’s kinda nice sometimes, because by then you’ve forgotten what happens.”

Good things apparently come to those who wait, judging by this year’s Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series — the biggest the show has come up for yet, despite 10 appearances on the nominee list (it’s a regular in the Outstanding Animated Program category) and three wins (for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Music and Lyrics and Outstanding Voice-Over Performance). There’s another easy, generous laugh when I ask how one finds out that kind of exciting news. “It depends on how high up in the food chain you are. If you’re my boss, you get a phone call at 5:30 in the morning, but if you’re me, your brother calls and tells you at a normal time.” She doesn’t know yet if she’ll be one of the lucky souls taking a stroll down the red carpet (tickets are limited and only those with particular job titles are guaranteed a seat).

It would be enough of a story to stop there, but no. This whole glamorous, award-winning, Hollywood TV gig? Yeah, that’s just her day job.

Chevapravatdumrong also just published her third young adult novel, “DupliKate” (Harper Teen), about an overachieving high school senior named Kate who’s trying to manage a crushing schedule of activities and get into Yale with her boyfriend. Passing out after a grueling night capped off by a computer malfunction, she wakes up to find that a long-discarded avatar from a game called SimuLife has gained three-dimensional status — and come for a visit.

This is predictably disturbing to Kate at first, but the alter-ego seems plenty eager to please, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that a spare self could be the answer to her time management problems. Unfortunately, the “dupliKate” quickly develops an inconvenient sense of autonomy, putting serious strain on the life it’s taking all Kate has to keep chugging in the right direction. (Frankly, I’m dying to give away the ending, because if you’ve read this far into this article, you’d appreciate it — but I won’t. You’ll have to check it out for yourself.)

What draws Chevapravatdumrong (who writes under the name Cherry Cheva) to the young-adult genre? “Okay, well, I’m 13 years old at heart,” she confessed. “Maybe 10. I like teenagers.” As much as anything else, though, she says she sort of fell into it: her first book, “She’s So Money,” was set in high school but marketed as a crossover, and she noted that it’s the publisher, not the author, who decides in which category a book is placed. At any rate, it’s fine with her. “I like that stuff. I feel like I remember high school pretty well, and it seems natural to me. I just have no problems flashing back there. I don’t think I set out to do it, but it happened and I feel like it works.

“And also now that I’m in it, the YA world, everyone’s so nice to each other. There’s this whole blogging community from the writers to the teenagers… I wouldn’t change it. Everyone’s great. Not that I know anything about the adult literary world, but teenagers get very enthusiastic about things.”

Catch “Family Guy” on Fox at 9 p.m. on Sundays, and tune in to the Emmys at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20 to see if they got their win. Cherry Chevapravatdumrong is currently planning an appearance at Ann Arbor District Library on Dec. 29; keep an eye on their web site for further details.

Leah DuMouchel is a free-lance writer who covers books for AnnArbor.com.