Wendelin Van Draanen

“My mission as a writer is to give my readers hope to carry with them, and to promote a belief that they can do anything they set their minds to.”

“I write early in the morning at the computer, and people think I'm crazy, but I still use my Mac-Classic even though we have a state-of-the-art PC. There are just less distractions with the simpler machine.”

“One's character is set at an early age. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.”

“What he did to my heart was sheer, inexplicable, magic.”

“You want me to be a man,older than you, who goes by the name of Roullard.”

“It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late.”

“Words can't fix my life.Words can't give me a family.Words can't do jack.You may be a teacher, Ms. Leone, but face it: You don't know squat.”

“I believe in the paramount importance of entertainment, but I have something to say.”

“...Next time you're faced with a choice, do the right thing. It hurts everyone less in the long run.”

“Part of my motivation for writing mysteries for young people is that I loved mysteries when I was growing up, and now that I'm on the creative end of things, I'm discovering that they're even more fun to write!”

“Proper lighting is everything, Julianna.”

“I operate under the assumption that people don't notice the good in me. That's just how things always seem to play out. I get blamed, while con-artist kids like Venus, and Camille, and Gemma get believed. But the rescue lady noticed. In the background, just observing, she noticed.”

“Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road.”

“You can't dwell on what might have been...and it's not fair to condemn him for something he hasn't done.”

“I rewrite my books many times before submitting them, and after my editor takes a look I wind up rewriting some more! It's a good thing I learned at an early age to keep on trying. Stick to it, and eventually you'll get there.”

“One's character is set at an early age, son. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life." He was quiet for a minute then dropped the curtain and said, "I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.”

“A painting is more than the sum of its parts,' he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow by itself is just a cow, and the meadow by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light, but put them all together and you've got magic.”

“You can't be preachy - kids are allergic to messages.”

“What I'm expecting is for you to behave like the gentleman I always thought you were.”

“There are certain things I believe we need to keep in our emotional arsenal as we navigate through life. Hope is a big one. The more of that we can carry, the better.”