I love writing and do not know why it is considered such a difficult, agonizing profession. I love all of it, thinking up the plots, getting to know the kids in the story, their parents, backyards, pizza toppings.

People think they own time. They have watches and clocks and digital pulses. But they are wrong. Time owns them.

My favorite book is always the one I'm working on at the moment

I'm one of the lucky writers: plots come easily to me

People nearly always believe, and are willing to back it up with weapons and cruelty, that their religion and way of life is better than the other person's

I wrote eight full-length adult novels in my twenties. None of them were published

I believe my voice is pretty much the same. I've written 75 books, so I'm better at it now than I was earlier in my career

She had gradually changed her name. Jane was too dull. Last year, she'd added a y, becoming Jayne, which had more personality.

Stephen had just come from a class discussion in which several students believed that the right cup of herbal tea would save them from pain and sorrow. Well acquainted with pain and sorrow, Stephen did not contribute to the discussion. He merely crossed these idiots off his list of possible friends.

I approach serious subjects, and I like to have the good guys win and have the parents among the good guys

But I found my family. I found the right thing to do. I found the way home.

When in doubt, shut up.