Darren Shan

“I think sometimes parents and teachers can push children away from reading by telling them it's something they must do, the same way they must eat their greens and must pass their exams in school. Poppycock! Read or don't read - that's your call.”

“Her fear was infectious, and though I was too young to truly know terror, I felt it in my heart and trembled.”

“Though I’m tempted by the call of the sea, I resist. It can’t claim me.In a way I’m stronger than the waves and I feel good about that.”

“I have music on when I write. I don't like the isolation otherwise and find the silence deadening.”

“The hands of fate keep time on a heart-shaped clock.”

“As long as you’re breathing, your story’s still going.”

“The only way to learn and hone your craft is by working hard and writing regularly.”

“Students never appreciate their teachers while they are learning. It is only later, when they know more of the world, that they understand how indebted they are to those who instructed them. Good teachers expect no praise or love from the young. They wait for it, and in time, it comes.”

“Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.”

“Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.”

“Man wasn't made to share the universe with gods.”

“Reading has always been the great love of my life.”

“There's something different about you," he says."I've started styling my hair differently," I laugh."Oh. I thought it was that you were three feet taller, a hell of a lot broader, look like a werewolf, and are naked expect for that bit of cloth around your waist. But you're right - it's the hair.”

“My books always focus on the response of the characters to extreme events. As dark as they get, they are ultimately positive, uplifting books about children who take control of their lives and overcome great adversaries. I think that is why they have been so popular.”

“I'll never forget a meeting with one publisher where they said, 'We don't publish books for teenage boys; teenage boys don't read.'”

“We have the power to bend all men to our whim, but are forever pushing ourselves further, trying to fly higher… and falling.”

“But I don't think Art's an Einstein - he likes tugging ears, biting people and burping too much to be a genius.”

“Yes?" she asked, eyeing me guardedly.I struck out a hand and said "Shake."Arra stared at the hand, then into my unfocused eyes. "One good fight doesn't make you a warrior," she said."Shake!" I repeated angrily."And if I don't?" she asked."I'll get back up on the bars and fight you till you do," I growled.Arra studied me at length, then nodded and took my hand. "Power to you, Darren Shan," she said gruffly."Power," I repeated weakly, then fainted into her arms and knew no more till I came to in my hammock the next night.”

“Destiny's what you make of it. You have to face whatever life throws at you.”

“You can’t save everyone. It’s not an option.”