I think that one of the reasons Shakespeare withstands the test of time is that his themes are so universal.
Writers often like to talk about how intuitive the writing process is, but in truth, building a book is a remarkably unintuitive task. Or, to put it more accurately, you need a lot more than intuition. You need plot and characters. You need a setting. You need a theme that is relevant and supported by your text.
American fantasy is not a genre we think about too often. Sure, we are familiar with the worlds of English boarding school houses and castles and fairies, but true American fantasy, fantasy that is built on the land of this country, is hard to come by.
If you want to be a writer, first and foremost, you must write. If you write, you're a writer. Period.
'When You Were Mine' is about heartbreak.
I used the second year of my MFA program to write a young adult novel and began pursuing picture books as well. I loved the economy of this art form, choosing, with pristine attention, the exact right words to tell the exact right story.
You don't write a book. You write a sentence and then a paragraph and then a page and then a chapter. Looking at writing 400 plus pages or seventy thousand odd words is incredibly daunting, but if you just focus on the immediate picture - say, 500 words - it's not so overwhelming.
When it comes to vampires, Daniel Gillies's Elijah is the cream of the crop. Since leaving 'The Vampire Diaries' to headline 'The Originals,' we've seen the brother of Klaus grow from the altruistic, steadfast, suit-wearing stud into a complicated, nuanced lead.
I think perfect happiness has a lot to do with peace. For me, I get peace from writing, from the people in my life, and from yoga - om!
It takes a lot for a show to withstand the test of time.
The first thing I thought when I finished Ernest Cline's 'Ready Player One' was, 'My God, it's the grown-up's 'Harry Potter.'' Now this is from a mega 'HP' fan, so I mean business, here.
So many tend to brand the Internet as the downfall of youth, but 'Ready Player One' hints that it's more complicated than that.
The adult fiction and writing for children portions of my MFA program were kept very separate, and there was a stigma around those 'kid people.'
It is my greatest wish to teach children what I now believe: that writing is not a burden but a joy.
Part of the job of a children's author is to write books that will be remembered, definitely, but if I might go out on a limb, I will say that the other part, the more important part, is to build books that will help children fall in love with reading. That, to me, is the real job.
I have often said that I think children's books are like poetry. Finding the exact right words to tell a story is something all writers, regardless of genre, are challenged to do, but it is in children's that the art of selection really becomes an art.
Children's authors have to pick words that reflect the spirit of a book and convey its message but also words that light children up, that children will recognize. Words that inspire and comfort. Words that challenge yet don't patronize. Words that, well, mean something to them.
Picture books have terrible PR amongst the children of this country. Ask any librarian: after a certain age, children just aren't interested in the picture book section anymore. It's filled with moms, strollers, and unbalanced toddlers.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: writing picture books is an art - the art of word choice.
I always say it's a shame picture books get such a bad rep. Illustrations are tough to sell older kids on!
