After a while, the characters I'm writing begin to feel real to me. That's when I know I'm heading in the right direction.

All the characters in my books are imagined, but all have a bit of who I am in them - much like the characters in your dreams are all formed by who you are.

I really feel like the gift is also the curse. It's always half-and-half. Whatever brings you the most joy will also probably bring you the most pain. Always a price to pay.

I don't really read as much as I used to. A lot of what I was looking for as an escape I find in writing. And the other thing is that I don't want to get into someone else's language when I'm working.

I think secrets often come out. I spoke to a friend who is a therapist and I asked her if there were people who came to her and admitted to doing horrible things and she said, 'More than you know.'

No one knows how to write a novel until it's been written.

The adults don't know what's happening on the kids' universe and the kids don't know what's happening on the adults' universe.

Even in times when it's difficult to figure out, how do you go forward, art - and books - always help.

I can't really work on more than one thing at a time.

I'm much faster now. When you only have a certain amount of time to write, after a while you learn to use your time well or you stop writing.