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 sa….

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 th….

He was intrigued by the power of words, not the literary words that filled the books in the library but the sharp, staccato words that went into the ….

Why did the wise guys always accuse other people of being wise guys?.

It doesn't matter how big the body, it's what you do with it..

And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself..

I had my bully, and it was excruciating. Not only the bully, but the intimidation I felt..

It's amazing that the heart makes no noise when it cracks..

I write very tightly, and my big fear is boring people. I want them to read quickly, stopped in their tracks. I resist indulging myself..

Salinger is such a terrific writer; he did so many great things. He is one of those writers that I still reread, simply because he makes me see the p….

I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence..

That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else..

My dream was to be known as a writer and to be able to produce at least one book that would be read by people. That dream came true with the publicat….

A terrific sadness swept over Jerry. As if somebody had died. The way he felt standing in the cemetry that day they buried his mother. And nothing yo….

He was swept with a sadness, a sadness deep and penetrating, leaving him desolate like someone washed up on a beach, a lone survivor in a world full ….

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

You hope that people read your book and say "Yes, this is the way it is or could be." But then you have no way of knowing until the reader reads the ….

I've had aunts and uncles who not only haven't read my books but could hardly believe that I was a writer..

It would be the death of all creativity for me if I had to sit there and be concerned with the sensibilities of a fourteen-year-old kid. Some fourtee….

They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too..

When I write, I never think of segments as chapters; I think of them as scenes. I always visualize them in my mind. Then I try to get the scene down ….