Patrick Carman Quotations

My job as an author is to tell the story in the best way possible, to make it flow seamlessly and get the reader to keep turning the page.

I'm a relic, and things were a lot different when I was fifteen and sixteen. There were no cell phones, no laptops... I learned to type on an actual typewriter.

Don't get me wrong - I love books! I just think a video has a bigger bang when it comes to a good, old-fashioned adrenaline rush.

For kids, multitasking electronically is common. But they are totally focused. You can tell a good story, and they listen.

I took English courses in college, but I don't have an English degree. I have a degree in economics.

I wasn't really conscious about 'The 39 Clues' movie when I wrote 'The Black Circle.'

I'm a visual thinker, thrill seeker, and I'm easily distracted. I see everything I'm writing, and I think it naturally affects the pace of things.

'Skeleton Creek' is like nothing you've ever read before because it's a book and a movie at the same time.

There are so many ways to tell a story. With multiplatform books, we are reimagining what literacy can be.

They wouldn't let me into Germany from 1998-2000 because I bumped into the chancellor's daughter on my skateboard.

Yes, we're pretty into books around my house. We have lots and lots of books around. We have TV, but really no one ever watches it.

Getting to the point where I was ready to write a book has been about a 20-year journey of being, really honestly, too afraid to try - which I think is pretty common for people who are trying to write a large piece of fiction.

I remember all the way back in high school thinking about writing books. And, in fact, I've written a lot of stories. I've got dozens of stories I've written that no one's ever seen.

I travel to a lot of schools, and I see firsthand that while we do still have a lot of traditional readers, we don't have as many as we used to. And we're missing an awful lot of kids entirely... Do I want to get rid of the Internet? Obviously, I don't want that because of all the amazing things it brings.

Like most people, there are things I love about Amazon. It's cheap, it's fast, and it's at my doorstep. But Amazon will never replace the important role my local indie plays in my community.

There's something really fun about being scared, and I guess that was at least part of why I wanted to film certain scenes from my new book, 'Skeleton Creek.'

When I was a kid, I used to love it when one of my friends would jump out from behind a door and try to scare me. I always did the same thing in response.

My way is set as in stone, and I don't feel the need to veer off any longer. It has taken many days of searching and fighting, but in the end I have found what I was looking for. I have found my way home.

I really hope that all librarians aren't like Gladys Morgan. Because I'd really like , at some point, to walk into a library and not be afraid for my life.

The Grim Reaper doesn't disappear... he catches up.

I killed a guy, maybe two. Possibly three. I have one power. Not two or three or four. Just one. I met a girl, and she changed everything.

Yeah, a lot more than he likes you," said Oh. It didn't look like Milo appreciated the joke very much. "That's debatable," said Milo. "Is not," said Oh. She leaned in and put her pink cast against my cheek, kissing me quickly on the lips. "That's incredibly unfair. If we were gay you'd be up a creek without a paddle. You wouldn't even be in the game." "He's right, you know," I said. "Aw. You guys are having a bromance. That's really cute.

I've stabbed two people with a fork today. What's wrong with me?

I go to a Catholic school and I'm telling you: invisibility = eternal damnation. You can take it to the bank.

If you make something your life's work, make sure it's something you can feel proud of when you're an old relic like me.

He has guided my hands in ways I don't always understand, ways that people of this world would scoff at. But there is a purpose for all that I have ever made, even if I don't understand for certain what that purpose is.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Sorry Mr. Yipes, sir, she won't budge!' Put your back into it, man, give it all you've got!' Bang! Bang! Bang!

There's something darn funny about an old librarian with a potty mouth.

Faith never stays put. It's always challenging always questioning. That's what makes it real.

But sometimes you have to wait for an answer to come to you. Especially when the questions are difficult ones.

I watched the night sky with it's countless stars and its moon, and I wondered about the universe and all that had been created, why the stars and the moon rose at night and the sun in the day, how vast it must be, how I could never understand the infinite measure of its size.

As exciting, difficult, and memorable as our past can be, there comes a time when we have to get on with living.

There's something comforting about the companionship of animals in a new place.

You can't be gone. I need you here, with me. What am I going to do without you?

She was gorgeous and fearless and I was in awe.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't somebody watching.

There was a time when I thought I turned terrible things over in my mind because I read and wrote too many scary stories. (Note self: start writing about unicorns and bunnies)

If bringing down the wall would require you to fly, you must believe you can fly. Otherwise, when the decisive moment comes, you will surely discover you ahve no wings.

It occurred to me then that it was in times of struggle that I found the best parts of myself - courage, loyalty, an unexpected peace - and I always discovered what I needed to break through and go on.

In the morning light, I remembered how much I loved the sound of wind through the trees. I laid back and closed my eyes, and I was comforted by the sound of a million tiny leaves dancing on a summer morning.

The size of your body is just right. The only question is whether you're big enough inside.