I Take Real People And Put Them

There Are No Taboos. Every Topic Is Open, However Shocking. It Is The Way That The Topics Are Handled That's Important, And That Applies Whether It Is A 15-year-old Who Is Reading Your Book Or Someone Who Is 55.

People Always Ask Me About The Role Models That I'm Providing For Kids, And I Say I Can't Be Concerned With That. I'm Not Worrying About Corrupting Youth. I'm Worrying About Writing Realistically And Truthfully To Affect The Reader.

Cities Fell. Earth Opened. Planets Tilted. Stars Plummeted. And The Awful Silence.

I Am Frightened By Today's World, Terrified By It. I Think That Comes Out In The Books. I'm Afraid Of Big Things. Some Of These Schools Have Three Thousand Kids, And Even The Size Of The Schools Frightens Me. Big Government Frightens Me; So Does Big Defense.

A Man I Know Who Writes And Aspires To Be A Novelist Does Very Little Reading, And He's Not That Successful. But I Think It's Because He's Like The Kid Who Wants To Be A Ballplayer And Never Goes To The Ballpark Or Tries To Hit A Ball. So I'd Say Reading Is The Most Important Thing That I Do, Besides The Actual Writing. I'm Always Asking As I Read, "how Did The Writer Do This? Why Do I Suddenly Have Tears In My Eyes? Why Am I Crying?"