I love to tell stories. It’s a delight for me.
I believe we should spend less time worrying about the quantity of books children read and more time introducing them to quality books that will turn them on to the joy of reading and turn them into lifelong readers.
What I’m really addicted to is getting people to understand that if their kids aren’t competent readers coming out of middle school, it’s really going to be hard for them in high school.
A good love story always keeps the pot boiling.
Every once in a while, I’ll have a ‘Do you know who I am?’ moment, at least in my head. I hate that.
Hollywood is a peculiar beast – people in Hollywood are nuts.
I don’t smile as much as I should, even though I smile inside a lot.
I don’t think of myself as a writer.
I guess I write four or five hours a day, but I do it seven days a week. It’s very disciplined, yes, but it’s joy for me.
I have a folder in my office with about 400 ideas in it. So it will take me another 40 years to get through those.
I learnt to love reading. And then I started scribbling stories, and I liked that even more.
I did know that the book would end with a mind-boggling trial, but I didn’t know exactly how it would turn out. I like a little suspense when I am writing, too.
Fang felt a cold jolt, then dismissed it. Max wasn’t dead. He would know, somehow. He would have felt it. The world still felt the same to him; therefore, Max was still in it.
My mom had a soft heart after all! Instead of being chained by both wrists, we were only chained by one ankle! I mean, if I’d been looking for proof that she really did love me, this was it, right?
Ultimately, a great thriller is a roller coaster ride. I like to think that’s a promise I have never failed to keep, and one that I’d say has served my books well.
There are terrific models for success with reluctant readers, but many school systems and state governments need to set aside their ‘not invented here’ and ‘we have more important problems than education’ attitudes.
I have a number of writers I work with regularly. I write an outline for a book. The outlines are very specific about what each scene is supposed to accomplish.
The subject for a lot of non-fiction is very emotional, but if you read it, it’s the most boring, dry stuff. I wanted ‘Torn Apart’ to be extremely accessible and readable.
The vampire underworld is much larger than most people could imagine. It exists in all the cities mentioned in the book, but also in many, many more. Teenagers, especially, seem to like to act out vampire fantasies.
On the other hand, even a big, ’80s love van was less noticeable than six flying kids and their talking dog. So there you go.