Michael Scott
The two that are one, the one that is all!Collection: Two
You don't call retarded people retards. It's bad taste. You call your friends retards when they are acting retarded.Collection: Gay
Just as a pebble thrown into the water creates ripples, so our thoughts create similar effects on our palms.Collection: Hands
Every story starts with an idea, but it is the characters that move this idea forward.Collection: Moving
Love is the water of life, drink deeply.Collection: Love Is
Distance makes everything beautiful.Collection: Beautiful
There is always something to see, if you only know how to look.Collection: Looks
Knowledge itself is never dangerous, it is how that knowledge is used that is dangerousCollection: Used
I never avoid something that challenges my guts and my heart. While I might occasionally puke my guts out, I have never puked my heart out.Collection: Hilarious
Abraham Lincoln once said that if you are a racist, I will attack you with the north. And those are the principles that I carry with me in the workplace.Collection: Diversity
I love inside jokes. I hope to be a part of one some day.Collection: Jokes
I am Michael, and I am part English, Irish, German, and Scottish, sort of a virtual United Nations.Collection: Scottish
I never base characters on real people - you can get into so much trouble that way!Collection: Real
When I retire, I don't want to just move to some island somewhere. I want to be the guy who gives it all back. I want it to be like, 'Hey who donated that hospital wing that's saving so many lives?' 'I don't know. It was anonymous.' 'Well, guess what. It was Michael Scott.' 'But how do you know? It was anonymous.' 'Because I'm him.Collection: Moving
There was no honor in war, less in killing, and none in dying. But there was true dignity in how men comported themselves in battle. And there was always honor to be found in standing for a just cause and defending the defenseless.Collection: War
Wait. Look. Notice. If you keep those three words in mind, you just might survive the next few days.Collection: Waiting
You might argue that the history of contemporary art is a series of avant-garde movements, each new wave outraging the last.Collection: Art
You are not living, you are surviving.Collection: Surviving
You know I hate disappointing even one person, and I really hate disappointing everyone but I love burlington coat factoryCollection: Hate
Negotiations are about controlling things, about being in the driver's seat and make one tiny mistake; you're dead. I made one tiny mistake, I wore women's clothesCollection: Mistake
What is it like being single? I like it! I like starting each day with a sense of possibility. And I'm optimistic, because everyday I get a little more desperate. And desperate situations yield the quickest results.Collection: Being Single
Water is the life-giver and the death-bringer.Collection: Water
Books are just dead words on paper and it is the readers who bring the stories alive. Previously, writers wrote a book and sent it out into the world. A couple of months after publication letters from readers might arrive. And, leaving aside the professional reviews, it is really the reader's opinions that the writer needs. They vote for a book - and a writer - with their hard earned cash every time they go into a bookstore (or online - that's my age showing!) and buy a book.Collection: Couple
I am of the generation of writers who can get instant feedback from readers within hours of publication. The fan forum is extraordinary - readers from all over the world coming together to discuss, argue and debate scenes and characters from a novel. They add a layer to the story that I cannot write and yes, I will participate in that conversation and answer questions. After all, they are the people I'm writing for and their enthusiasm and questions really pushes me to raise the bar.Collection: Writing
Making sure that the geography and timelines work is always the hardest part of writing. But you owe it to the readers to get it right!Collection: Writing
I have a huge music library and deliberately choose the piece of music to match the piece I'm writing. So, every book I write has its own "soundtrack."Collection: Book
The research. It is always the best part of writing. And, of course, it is the great excuse to travel.Collection: Writing
My specialty is mythology.There are artifacts like the hallows scattered through just about every mythology. However, what makes the Celtic hallows so interesting is that they are a self-contained group of objects.Collection: Self
A good story is always a journey. It is about taking the journey, the people the hero meets along the way and how they change him or her. All stories are journeys. They don't have to be shocking or outrageous: they simply have to be interesting.Collection: Hero
I'm always writing - its what I like to do. But when I'm not writing, I'm reading.Collection: Reading
When it is going well, it is the best job [writing] in the world. For those few hours, you are god, in control of everything. However, for me, the great joy of writing is that it has allowed me to travel the world in search of stories.Collection: Jobs
I am a great believer that all the primary research has to be done before principle writing begins. I'm a huge advocate of plotting.Collection: Writing
I was brought up in a home where I saw my parents read and I was taken to bookshops and libraries, so I grew up feeling very comfortable around books. Also, Ireland is a country which has honoured its writers and poets, so when someone says they wanted to be a writer, its not mocked or looked down upon.Collection: Country
They [my characters]speak to me all the time! In fact some of them never shut up!Collection: Character
I have always been interested in mythology and history. The more I read, the more I realized that there have always been people at the edges of history that we know very little about. I wanted to use them in a story and bring them back into the public's consciousness. Similarly with mythology: everyone knows some of the Greek or Roman legends, and maybe some of the Egyptian or Norse stories too, but what about the other great mythologies: the Celtic, Chinese, Native American?Collection: Native American
Some writing courses will advise you to write what you know. I've always thought this is very odd advice ... because it means, for example, that I should not be writing about Nicholas Flamel, because I didn't live in France in the 15th Century, I was not an alchemyst, am not immortal (despite the rumours) and do not know magic.Collection: Writing
I've published over 100 books - and that is divided about 50/50 adult and young adult. Lately, I have been writing more YA, which is such a great genre to write it. I don't have a favourite (I usually say it's the last book I've written), but certain books do stick in the mind. My very first YA novel, The Children of Lir, will always be special to me, and, of course The Alchemyst because it was a series I'd wanted to write for ages.Collection: Children
That is as true for fiction or non-fiction. The writer has to really know their subject. It is really important to remember that the readers are a lot smarter than the writer. Also, good writing has to do with rewriting. You will never get it right the first time. So you rewrite and rewrite again until you get it right. Until you, and the reader, will be able to visualize what you're writing about.Collection: Writing
I am a writer (and one day I'll be an author). For a long time I was a bookseller (who wrote) or a TV producer (who wrote), but for the last decade or so, its been "writer."Collection: Long
I wanted to be a librarian from a very young age. Some of my earliest memories are being taken to the local library. I ended up working as a bookseller. Becoming a writer was the logical offshoot of being a reader.Collection: Memories
I'm always reading. Here's where an ebook reader really comes into its own. When I travel, it allows me to carry a huge chunk of my library with me. Usually, when I am writing one project, I am researching the next or beginning to pull together the material for the book after that.Collection: Book
Good collaboration essentially boils down to personalities who work well together and are able to integrate each other's notes and ideas without killing each other.Collection: Ideas
I'm probably better known in the US as a YA writer, I have a huge body of adult horror and fantasy behind me.Collection: Body
Being immortal must have a lot of attractions. You can travel all over the world, see everything, do everything. But what happens if you are immortal and your friends and family are not? You are then destined to watch them age and die.Collection: Age
The secret to writing is writing. Lots of people I know talk about writing. They will tell me about the book they are going to write, or are thinking about writing, or may write some day in the future. And I know they will never do it. If someone is serious about writing, then they will sit down every day and put some words down on paper.Collection: Book
My advice is to write about what you are interested in. If you read science fiction and fantasy, then write in that genre. If you read romance novels, then try writing one.Collection: Writing
I am thrilled when I read about fans using my stories as springboards to read about either the historical characters or the myths and legends in the books.Collection: Book
I have been very lucky: my writing has taken me across the world, and I have seen some extraordinary sites and sights.Collection: Taken
The most reward experience is having another writer come up to you and say that they started writing because they read my books. That is how writing as a profession continues: readers becomes writers who inspire new readers.Collection: Book