Starting is hard so I really need to give myself permission to do a bad job. I always give myself leave to write total nonsense for as long as I need to release the pressure, because it's really hard to start if you feel like that first sentence you write has to actually mean something.

The distinction has blurred between young adult and adult books. Some of the teen books have become more sophisticated.

Love made you admire funny things about a person, like how good she was at remembering to return her library books and at slicing cucumbers very thin. She was a veritable wonder at pulling a splinter out of her foot.

Age is not so much a feature of your character, as the spot where you stand for a pretty fleeting time on the arc of your life.

There were certain qualities you possessed carelessly. And you couldn't retrieve them when they were gone. The very act of caring made them impossible to regain.

some people fall in love over and over again while some people can only do it once.

You'll turn out ordinary if you're not careful.