Jeff Giles

“Owen Wilson is an actor, but think of him as a sort of secret agent. He has an offbeat, indie-movie sensibility. Every so often, however, he infiltrates some big-budget movie he clearly doesn't belong in - 'Anaconda,' 'Armageddon,' 'The Haunting' - and struggles valiantly to stop it from sucking.”

“The conventional wisdom is that authors get only one chance in this world. If your first novel doesn't sell, publishers and bookstores lose interest, and your career stalls, barring an act of God or Oprah.”

“I'd been wanting to try a YA novel for years because I saw how exciting the genre was and how amazing, hungry, and curious the readers were.”

“It is amazing how quickly a true talent can announce itself. In the case of Myla Goldberg, it is not even a matter of pages, but of sentences.”

“Making a summer movie is like accepting a mission impossible: your enemies are everywhere, and if you fail, the studio's never heard of you.”

“I didn't want to write a pure fantasy novel, though I love those and grew up on J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin.”

“Asking the director of 'The Lord of the Rings' to read my novel was exactly as terrifying as you'd think. I came this close to not doing it because I was so embarrassed. But he was so gracious about it.”

“It's been said that Generation X should get a life. Well, in 'Bottle Rocket,' they get a life of crime. Or at least try.”

“'White Teeth' has far too many characters, and its plot is tortured. But Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race - and she's funny as hell.”

“I like beautiful writing, pain, unexpected humor, and the message that, at the last second, people are going to be kind to each other. It almost doesn't matter what the genre is.”

“In my work at 'Entertainment Weekly,' I had written reviews and news stories about YA books and film franchises and was always moved by how smart and voracious and loyal the readers were. Everything we did got lots of attention and reaction.”

“Leaving New York and friends is tough, and there are things about it I still really miss. But Montana is a great place to write.”

“Some actors occasionally waive their outlandish salaries and take a cut of the gross instead.”

“Because I'm a writer, I'm really good at being nervous.”

“Sharon Stone has made a fortune from her movies, so who says you can't get something for nothing?”

“Tobias Wolff is a hell of a writer, but you knew that already. His first memoir, 'This Boy's Life,' was a Huck Finn story set in the Eisenhower era - a story so rich and wounding that not even Hollywood could make a bad movie out of it.”

“By now, we all know that Hollywood producers always chase after the same properties, that the sharks circle simply because the other sharks are circling.”

“When salaries skyrocket, budgets skyrocket, and then rigor mortis sets in: moviemakers turn out formulaic junk in an effort to hedge their bets.”

“In the annals of the rich and miserable, Christina Onassis stands out, if only because she was so rich and so miserable.”

“There are all kinds of voices in YA, and they are realistic and unflinching.”