I'm not a reader of young adult fiction for the simple reason that these novelists are writing for adolescents, so they are not writing for me.

Writing, even though it's hard work, is really a joy when you get these characters to come alive. It's hard to trace where they come from. I can't say that I am sitting here one night at nine o'clock and that a character occurs to me. The magic for me happens at the typewriter.

...pain reaches a certain point and does not get worse but remains in all its intensity and you can survive it.

Affection is one of the most neglected words in the English language, that people throw the word love around like confetti when they mean affection.

I'm weary of the battle. But a tired fighter can still be a fighter.

You seldom get a censorship attempt from a 14-year-old boy. It's the adults who get upset.

I can't remember a time when I wasn't trying to get something down on paper.