We had enough years in front of us to be serious and grown-up and respectable. Why rush it? But on the other hand we always complained when teachers and other adults treated us as kids. In fact there was nothing that annoyed me more. So it was a frustrating situation. What we needed was a two-sided badge that said 'Mature' on one side and 'Childish' on the other. Then at any moment we could turn it to whatever side we felt like being and the adults could treat us accordingly.
John MarsdenThere are some things that once you've lost, you never get back. Innocence is one. Love is another. I guess childhood is a third.
John MarsdenWell, Iโve learnt this much: it doesnโt matter what it costs, itโs worth paying the price. You canโt live cheap and you canโt live for nothing. Pay the price and be proud youโve paid it, thatโs what I reckon.
John MarsdenWriting is not a job or activity. Nor do I sit at a desk writing for inspiration to strike. Writing is like a different kind of existence. In my life, for some of the time, I am in an alternative world, which I enter through day-dreaming or imagination. That world seems as real to me as the more tangible one of relationships and work, cars and taxes. I don't know that they're much different from each other.
John Marsden