I often lament that new picture books don't get read because the classics hold up so well. It's a ridiculous complaint because, um, the classics hold up so well.
I get asked a lot what books I recommend for a nursery, home library, etc., and I always tell parents to start with what they loved as children, what they want to share, and broaden out from there.
'The Borrowers' is the story of tiny people who live beneath the floorboards of houses and borrow from the occupants. I may have tried to pull up a plank or two because of it.
My favorite 'Eloise' book is probably 'Eloise in Paris.'
Defining success is an ongoing challenge.
Seriously, I am a terrible plotter when it comes to my novels. Terrible. I love to kind of feel my way into a book.
I love anything by Deb Caletti. She's my absolute favorite young adult author. I love Ally Carter as well.
One of the things that defines YA is a really strong narrative. Adults love YA because, at the end of the day, they're good stories and page-turners. The other element is emotion. The teen years are a very emotional and intense time, and I think it's a time we that we can all relate to and remember.
Every writer, no matter published, unpublished, award-winning, or bestselling, faces insecurity. It crops up everywhere and, in my personal experience, nearly every day. It's just a part of the process.
Writing isn't manual labor. Nor is it emptying the dishwasher or paying bills. It's work, sure, but sometimes it should be fun.
I used to think that if I was ever so lucky as to get a book deal that I would write all the time. All day, every day. I'd write three books a year. The truth, though, is that writing all day isn't really feasible. I could do it, but I'd be folding in on a lot of other aspects of my life, things I care about. And I wouldn't be happy.
I am a very big 'Vampire Diaries' fan, and I was a huge Stefan and Elena fan. That love story was one of the most beautiful ones I had ever seen on screen. I loved it.
It's devastating when that happens, when someone just ups and leaves for no reason, but love does sometimes go wrong.
Some of these love stories can be destructive as examples of what it means to really love. To think that someone is your one and only, that you're fated to be with this person, is a really powerful, sexy fantasy - but it is a fantasy, at least in part.
We need to take a far more active role in love than 'Romeo and Juliet' would lead us to believe. Perhaps that's what Shakespeare's saying, in a way. We can't leave it all up to fate.
I always say being a writer is the best gig around. I love it.
I'm a total fangirl for Nancy Meyers. I love all her movies - 'Something's Gotta Give,' 'Father of the Bride,' 'The Parent Trap,' etc. I also love Woody Allen - 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' are my favorites.
I really am so grateful to get to do what it is I love - build worlds. Most of my job is playing make-believe, getting to know the people in my head, and letting them help me tell their stories.
If you're applying for a creative position, don't be afraid to get a little creative on your resume.
My first book, 'When You Were Mine,' got optioned for film and went into preproduction as 'Rosaline.' That was the classic model: Hollywood calls, options book, and that's it. You sign on the dotted line.
