We live in a dark time. Books are as dark as what is available to teenagers through the media every day.
One of the things I strive for is realism. I need to be as real as possible in the dilemmas my characters face.
If we just allowed women and men more leeway in our culture and more acceptance, I think they would be able to make better compromises.
I was nuts for stuff in the Middle Ages when I was just in the third and fourth grades.
Anyone who tells you they don’t need to rewrite, they’re usually the ones who need it worst.
I come from a dysfunctional family, so my views of parents and parenting used to be highly mixed.
Cats aren’t special advisers. They advise us all the time, whether we want them to or no.
Most humans think the appearance of quiet is quiet. They do not see that sometimes the enemy is as quiet as the serpent. Only when it has stolen all of their eggs will they know bad walks in the quiet as well as the noisy.
Daja doesn’t exactly need to be tested on whether she’s honorable or not.
With each book, in each place, I have to keep an ongoing map as I write because otherwise I don’t know where I am.
You have an audience that is fairly well grounded in the real world. You serve them and yourself best by making everything as real as possible.
What people tell me they take away from my books is that they can shape their lives, they can achieve their own dreams. And certainly that’s what I want them to take away.
What happens to each of my female heroes, certainly, is they find something bigger than themselves that they are honored to serve. It’s not giving up your family.
Teen problem novels? I can go through them like a box of chocolates. And there are fantasy books out now that need a lot more editing. Fantasy got to be so popular that people began to think ‘We don’t need to be as diligent with the razor blade,’ but they do.
Publishers have realized that, unlike the previous time period, American teenagers are both smarter and require more topical material than they had been giving them before that. For one thing, they’ll read thicker books. Besides, has anybody looked at the news or read the newspapers recently?
If you aren’t having fun, if you aren’t anxious to find out what happens next as you write, then not only will you run out of steam on the story, but you won’t be able to entertain anyone else, either.
I’ve written short stories in first person, but you have so much more control writing in third person. Third person, you know what everybody’s thinking. First person is very limiting, and I could never sustain a first person novel before.
I love meeting fans. They’re always fun, they always have good things to say, smart questions to ask, and plenty of ideas for me to explore in the future.
Waves are the voices of tides. Tides are life.
Fear is a good thing. It mean you’re paying attention.