Lisa McMann
One of my favorite ways to write paranormal, as in the 'Wake' trilogy, is to write very normal characters with just a hint of something other-worldly. Like somewhere, maybe, someone really can get sucked into other people's dreams.Collection: Dreams
Nearly every notable event in 'Wake' has a date or a time stamp.
I was a blueberry picker, bindery worker, bookstore clerk and later manager, and a Realtor.
I went to Holland Christian High School in Holland, Michigan, and to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I would love to go to Greece.
I love Chris Crutcher, Sara Zarr, Lois Lowry, Elizabeth Scott, Madeleine L'Engle, Gordon Korman, Michelle Magorian, Heather Bouwman.
I had one of those defining moments in the fourth grade when my teacher said the story I wrote was the best in the class, and therefore I would be going Young Authors Conference where I'd get to hang out with authors all day.
Seriously, I dreamed that I was in my husband's dream, watching what he was dreaming about. Like, I was in his dream as an onlooker. It was so weird that I immediately wrote it down in the middle of the night. In the morning, it still sounded cool.
I would like to be able to disappear whenever I do something dorky.
I've always found teenagers really interesting. I think they've got so much going on in their lives, so that lends itself really well to fiction because there's so much drama, so much activity, so much growth.
I don't see a day when teenagers don't read. They are very enthusiastic. That is so inspiring to me.
I vividly remember sixth grade. It's the year when kids turn mean, and it's definitely no longer okay to cry in public. So we force our hot tears back, and they burn our throats all the way down.
Who hasn't had the 'I went to school/work in my underwear' dream?
It's just the end of some things. And the beginning of others.Collection: Ends
Once you read something, you can't erase it from your brain.Collection: Brain
Dreams happen in the strangest places. Watch for them.Collection: Dream
I know i'll screw up. But i'll keep trying, as long as you let me.Collection: Long
Maybe you don't have to remember something for it to be true. For it to exist.Collection: Remember Something
She sits in the driveway, freezing, for thirty-six minutes. Arguing with herself. Because she thinks she's in love with him too. And there are two ways she can be a fool in love right now. She chooses the harder one. And knocks on the door.Collection: Thinking
Janie blinks and leans against the wall, just in case. But it's no one's dream. It's just the end of some things. And the beginning of others.Collection: Dream
Janies lips part in surprise. She takes it. Feels really strange about opening it in front of him. She wets her lips and examines the box and the ribbon that surounds it. "Thank you." She says softly. "Um..." He clears his throat, "The gift, see is actually inside the box. The box is like an extra bonus gift.It's how we do things here on planet Earth.Collection: Bonus
Janie. Does not like. To be called. Buffy.Collection: Doe
And then they kiss. Slowly, gently. Because with the right person, sometimes kissing feels like healing.Collection: Healing
That was the goth stage, where I decided I'd never get the girl of my dreams because of my scars. Not to mention my hairstyle. (pause) But then she slammed a door handle into my gut. And when a girl does that to a boy, it means she likes him.Collection: Girl
Time to stop crying, time to get her act together and do something. Time to move beyond the pity party.Collection: Party
Oh baby," he whispers. Steps back. Out of the doorway. His face ashen. He walks slowly back to the kitchen. Leans over the counter. Puts his head in his hands. His hair falls over his fingers. The bathroom door clicks shut. She stays there for a long time. He's pulling his hair out.Collection: Baby
They linger near the back door, forehead to forehead and curved like statues as their lips whisper and brush together.Collection: Doors
There's something about a guy who admits he's a jerk that makes him forgiveable.Collection: Guy
Do you still love me, Janie?' Janie stares at him, incredulous. 'Yes, of course! I don't say it lightly.' 'Say it lightly in my ear,' he demands. She smiles, rests her soft cheek on his scratchy one, and whispers it. 'I love you, Cabe.Collection: Love You
No rash decisions. No big commitments. Each day as it comes.Collection: Commitment
Carrie doesn't seem to talk about anything with sharp edges. Maybe she's afraid they might poke her and then she'd burst.Collection: Might
Janie: So you're a double agent? Cabel: Sure.That sounds sexy.Collection: Sexy
Cabel gives her a quizzical look. "I am totally not getting enough attention here.Collection: Giving
But then you slammed a door handle into my gut. And when a girl does that to a guy; it means she likes him.Collection: Girl
Janie calls Cabel. "Hi, uh, Mom," she says. Cabel snorts. "Hello, dear. Did you make it through the blizzard?" "Yeah. Barely." Janie grins into the phone.Collection: Mom
The Thickety is a sinister, magical debut with a marvelous and shocking heroine. J.A. White’s elegant writing and masterful plot kept me turning pages late into the night.Collection: Writing
Hippie said he couldn't stay. Be back tomorrow -Love,MomCollection: Mom
I lurve you, circus freak," Cabel says. It almost hurts to hear him say that. I lurve you, too, you big lumpy monster man," Janie says. That hurts even more to say.Collection: Hurt
Janie’s hip buzzes again. Maybe she'll have to have her whole leg amputated, she thinks sadly. That would really suck.Collection: Thinking
So, what are you doing tonight?" Me?" Janie laughs. "Homework, of course." You want company?" Carrie's looking wistful. Do you have homework to do?" Of course. WEther I do it or not is the real question.Collection: Real
Bashful=Spanish, Miss Gardenia Doc=Psychology, Mr. Wang Happy=Chemistry 2, Mr. Durbin Dopey=English Lit., Mr. Purcell Dippy=Math, Mrs. Craig Dumbass=PE, Coach CraterCollection: Math
Janie: Did you ever sell drugs? Cabel: Yes. Pot. Ninth and tenth grade. I was, uh...rather troubled back then. Janie: Why did you stop? Cabel: Got busted, and Captain made me a better deal. Janie: So you've been a narc since then? Cabel: I cringe at your terminology.Collection: Drug
She gets to school late. Bashful gives her a tardy, and won't reconsider. Janie always hated Bashful. Stupidest. Dwarf. Ever.Collection: School
Go force your condescending man-logic on the next house. You can go now.Collection: Men
Feels like I'm in a play and I don't know all my lines.Collection: Play
Captain looks at Janie closely. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," she says. "You're gonna have a heck of a shiner by the time the day's over. Did you black our?" "I...uh..." Janie shrugs. "I really have no idea." "Yes, I think she did." Cabel cuts in. "I'm going to need to watch her all day. And probably all night, too," he adds. Very, very seriously. The captain throws a rubber eraser at him and sends him out for coffee.Collection: Jesus
With practice, you will master your own dreams.Collection: Dream
He kisses her. She kisses him. They kiss.Collection: Kissing
...she's leaving now. ... Janis attacks the back door of the school gym and finds herself in a heavy cloud of smoke. She realizes she's found the Goths' hangout. Who knew? "Oof," someone says. She keeps walking, muttering, "sorry" to whomever it was she hit with the flying door. *** Cabel: ... That was the Goth stage where I decided I'd never get the girl of my dreams because of my scars. Not to mention the hairstyle. (pause) But then she slammed a door handle into my gut. And, when a girl does that to a boy, it means she likes him.Collection: Girl
Jacián!" She yells again, and then she says something in Spanish. A moment later he comes down the hallway. "I'm going to tell Grandfather you said that," he says. "What do you want?Collection: Grandfather