Quote

When I first began writing, and I told people what I wrote, I'd get a blank stare and sometimes a 'Huh?' They weren't sure what young adult literature was. Now everyone knows.

My books were always full of ink blots, always stained and covered with smeared sketches and pictures, which one draws idly when his attention wanders from his task.

In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.

To my parents, writing seemed precarious and not the best idea.

I still have a lot of the stories I wrote in high school. Hand wrote... a number of them are in purple ink, rendering them illegible, a fact we should probably be forever thankful for.

When I had worked on my first book, I had readily shown bits and pieces to everyone - for encouragement, to force myself to write.

I was quite a reader before I became a writer.

Writing was always an aspiration, but I'd kept it a secret even from myself.

I don't believe for one moment you can write well what you wouldn't read for pleasure.

My twenties were entirely taken up with literature. Entirely.