You never begin a new life. It's a mistake to think that you end one part of your life and start another as if there's no continuity.
The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.
Now I realize that the trees blossom in Spring and bear fruit in Summer without seeking praise; and they drop their leaves in Autumn and become naked in Winter without fearing blame.
'Puffball' is a love story... no, it's a life story.
There are seasons in life. Don't ever let anyone try to deny you the joy of one season because they believe you should stay in another season... Listen to yourself. Trust your instincts. Keep your perspective.
Life’s like that. As we grow and change, some things we’ve experience before take on new meaning. It’ll happen for the rest of your life.
Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be.
With any character, I try to focus more on who the character is and how they got to be who they are.
The butterfly lures us not only because he is beautiful, but because he is transitory. The caterpillar is uglier, but in him we can regard the better joy of becoming.
Life is a process where people mix and match, fall apart and come back together.
As a reader, I much prefer to read a book where people embody all kinds of ideas and everybody is making mistakes.
I think when you're a kid coming out of college, you're just kinda going with the flow. You don't really understand what's happening around you - you're just out there playing basketball - but now that I'm older and I see where the league has come in my 15 years, it's pretty cool to have witnessed it.
Every human being is under construction from conception to death.
'The Awakening' is meant to be listened to in its entirety. Every song ultimately explores a character dealing with life, making mistakes, fighting, trying. But we also live in a singles-type world, and it works on that level, too.
Oak, granite, Lilies by the road, Remember me? I remember you. Clouds brushing Clover hills, Remember me? Sister, child, Grown tall, Remember me? I remember you.
You write a book, it's out for however many years, and with the passing of time, you're not the same person. I'm not the same person I was when I wrote those books; I'm not even the same person I was when I started writing 'Beg.' I had many shifts spiritually, and one of them was in the use of language.
For me it's even more interesting, because my character comes out of the shadow. It's a chance to really act emotionally, because the situation is an extreme one.
I think of love and marriage in the same way I do plants: We have perennials and annuals. The perennial plant blooms, goes away, and comes back. The annual blooms for just a season, and then winter arrives and takes it out for good. But it's still enriched the soil for the next flower to bloom. In the same way, no love is wasted.
As much as I love to dive into the action early, I think the hero's journey is important - the idea that the reader needs to experience the protagonist's everyday life before you turn that world upside down.
I wanted to create a heroine that was flawed. I wanted her to be a real person. She's selfish, she's childish, she's immature and because I'm doing a three-book arc I really played that up in the first book. I wanted the reader to be annoyed with her at times.
I'm trying to make really flawed characters that have got redeeming features so people can say, 'I don't really like that character, but I can understand a bit where they've come from.'
If you are succesfull for 20 years, you can't expect to stay on the same level all through that period. A career has its ups and downs and in-betweens.
Such is life. We grow up. Planets like Tiny get new moons. Moons like me get new planets.
You are the nest. You are the hatchling. You are the chrysalis. You are the progeny. You are the rot that falls from stars. You may not understand what I mean. You will.
Every living creature commences its existence under a form different from, and simpler than, that which it eventually attains.
