FOR INSPIRATION...
"The thing that separates a writer from masochism is the other side of his psyche. Flip it over, and what you find is an amazing, heady, and perhaps even foolish capacity for optimism and hope. What a noble and valuable quality--the ability to face setback after setback, to endure the loneliness and the fear though denied the reward, and yet to press on, still believing that rewards are possible, that good things can happen. I heard a man on the radio say that the best chance for success comes from just showing up. That's what writers do; they just keep showing up."
- Marcia Peterson
Byline, Feb. 26, 2003
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
- Walter Gretzky (Wayne's dad)
- How's that for a statement on fear of submitting our manuscripts?
"Dear Editor, Why do you keep sending my stories back? You're supposed to print them and make me rich and famous. What is it with you????"
- Snoopy
"Don't get it right, get it written." --James Thurber
"Writers are some of the most important people in America today, doing the most crucial work, bearing a heavy responsibility as the last exemplars of American entrepreneurship and cussedness. It takes brains to write, and you can't fake it. Anybody who can turn out a good story is probably smarter than half the corporation executives in America and a good deal more honest."
--Garrison Keillor
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president (1809-1865)
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
- Greek proverb
"There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree: you can climb to the top of the tree, or you can sit on an acorn and wait."
- Dr. Janet Allen, Educator, Author and Literacy Specialist
"If you tell me, it's an essay. If you show me, it's a story."
- Barbara Greene, Children's Author
"Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing...the rest will follow."
- Jane Yolen, speaking about new writers who focus
too much on the prize of getting published and winning
contests and awards
"I tend to think of language as one of the tools that we use to express ourselves; it's a whole lot more fluid and alive than we give it credit. I would wish that some of the modern sensibilities would substitute kindness with niceties, which isn't to say that they are always exclusive."
- Agy Wilson, Children's Author & Illustrator | 
