Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn’t writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right.
With great power... comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.
And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.
Seriously, who has monogrammed pajamas?
The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation.
We were just looking at maps...
I thought maybe he was seeing another tree. – Juniper.
You must carry on my spirit. It can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you. – Pan.
I found myself staring at her, which was stupid since I’d seen her a billion times. Still, she seemed so much more mature. It was kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, she’d always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.
The last time I’d seen the Minotaur, he’d been wearing nothing but his tighty whities. I don’t know why. Maybe he’d been shaken out of bed to chase me.
My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that.
It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.
I gave her my deluxe I’ll-Kill-You-Later stare.
A truly great artist has many talents.
Makes us appreciate blessing, not be greedy and mean and fat like Polyphemus.
Selling one’s book to Hollywood is rather like selling someone your house. After it’s sold, it isn’t yours anymore. They can paint it a different color, tear it down and build something new, or do anything they want.
I could always see myself being a teacher. I remember sitting in class as a kid, listening to the teacher and thinking, you know, I’m pretty sure I could explain that a little bit better.
Teachers and librarians are some of my favorite people, especially since I was a teacher myself. I love talking to them because they have wonderful ideas about how to share books, and especially about how to share my books with kids.
I try to craft books that are fun, that are sort of subversively educational so kids learn but they don’t really feel like they’re being lectured to, and I want kids to always finish one of my books and think, “That was great, where’s the next one?”
The most important thing whenever we’re connecting kids to books, is that we try to match the book to the kid and make sure that reading is a fun, rewarding experience outside the classroom.
I think every writer struggles in some way with writers block. The trick is to plan out what you are going to say beforehand. I found out that if you make an outline you’re much less likely to get blocked when you get into the middle of the story.