They're not chicks. They're ducks.

I'm in loooove with this boy, and when you in love with someone, you don't give up on 'em, mo matter what.

I've written a lot of novels for teens and tweens ... but I'd never really tackled the North Carolina side of me. And it's so strong and so important, and yet I hadn't acknowledged it. And so one of the things I wanted to do in "Shine" is take that on.

Hey. What is it that famous person said? 'It'll all work out in the end, and if it doesn't, that means it's not the end yet'?

If you breathed deep and set your mind to it, you could rise above your anger.

And they just slam the door. And they don't peek into that land any more. And they forget that teens and tweens are people, absolutely just as much as adults are. And their problems may play out on a smaller scale, but the things they go through are equally as valid as a CEO trying to figure out how to deal with a crisis at work. I just write for teens because I love 'em.

I didn't like being alone. Being alone was slightly better than having to deal with people, that's all. Or so I'd convinced myself.