I'm an e-mail junkie though I'm trying to read my in-box only twice a day and to answer all at once.

I am a big defender of 'Harry Potter,' and I think any book that gets kids to read are books that we should cherish, we should be thankful for them.

Fear is often disguised as moral outrage.

If all you leave in the library is books that you think speak to everyone, what are you going to have? You'd have nothing.

Concentrate on how good if feels to be alive. No matter what. Just to see the color of the sky, just to smell the air, and feel the wind in your face

I try to create new characters in each book I write. That's what makes writing fun and interesting for me.

I still get angry when older people assume that everyone in my generation, screws around. They're probably the same ones who think all kids use dope. It's true that we are more open than our parents but that just means we accept sex and talk about it. It doesn't mean we are all jumping into bed together.