Kate Klise Quotes

#1. In his homilies, this old Jesuit always talked about desire, and how we were connected by our desires. He said the most basic human desire was the desire to be desired by one you desire.

Kate Klise

#2. Some wishes come true. some wishes dont. sometimes you find out you were wishing for the completely wrong thing.

Kate Klise

#3. You stupid, selfish, philandering coach-class jackass.

Kate Klise

#4. I know I should try harder to make her feel necessary in my life. It totally freaked her when I said I didn't need her anymore. But isn't that the whole point of growing up? A healthy bird can fly the nest? Roots and wings and all that Hallmarky crap?

Kate Klise

#5. I'm pretty good at walking away from things - probably too good, in fact.

Kate Klise

#6. For years, friends in Springfield, Missouri, have remarked on the physical resemblance between Brad Pitt and his only brother, Doug. But the two share a deeper similarity: their commitment to charitable causes.

Kate Klise

#7. Many things can cause us to worry, but a kind word or deed can do wonders. Sometimes that's all we need to feel better.

Kate Klise

#8. One of the best essays I've seen in recent years was by a young woman who wrote about how being chosen to choreograph a high school musical forced her to assume a leadership role she wasn't sure she was ready for - but of course she was.

Kate Klise

#9. I like that there's no love as fierce as the love you feel for your family; that there's no one you feel more protective of than the very same people who can drive you crazy.

Kate Klise

#10. Just like old librarians, old coins are often more valuable than they appear at face value.

Kate Klise

#11. I'm so convinced that hiking helps my writing that I recently decided to offer a series of hiking-writing workshops to see if others had the same experience.

Kate Klise

#12. What's wrong with just talking? Isn't that why bars were invented? So you could talk to somebody over a drink - as opposed to sitting at home alone getting sloshed?

Kate Klise

#13. Early in my publishing career, someone told me I'd need to have five books in print before I could quit my job as a journalist. Turns out it was closer to 10 books. It also turns out that while it's great to see my titles on bookstore shelves, my best customers are schools and libraries.

Kate Klise

#14. I'm still driven by the feeling I had when I wrote my first book or read a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle adventure.

Kate Klise

#15. I want to give kids that fall-off-the-bed-laughing feeling. Either that, or the sixth-grade feeling that life is hard - sometimes unbearably hard - and it is ultimately about death. But in the meantime, life can be really funny, too.

Kate Klise

#16. I like to take writing retreats within a day's drive of home. Less travel time means more time for writing, which is the name of the game here.

Kate Klise

#17. Uh, puedo hablar con Andrew Nelson, por favor?" I asked, feeling like an idiot.
"Quien?"
"El americano," I explained. "Muy grande americano."
In trying to describe my father, I sounded like I was ordering coffee. But it worked.

Kate Klise

#18. Now think of life in the same terms. Start over when you have to. Make a second draft. Or a third. Embrace the chance you have to do things over again in a different, better, wiser way.

Kate Klise

#19. But we're all characters in our own stories, Iggy.

Kate Klise

#20. When I lead essay workshops, I ask students to come up with at least five topics, which they'll narrow down to one. The winning idea should be the story the student is most excited to tell because it honestly reflects his or her best self.

Kate Klise

#21. Can I tell you what I want? I want to stop wanting things I can't have. I want to stop falling for jerks I don't need. And I want to stop feeling like an f/ing gooey butter cake somebody left out in the rain.

Kate Klise

#22. If your hogs have warts, call us. Hogwarts Wart Removal. 555-HOGWARTS

Kate Klise

#23. And so, we end with a beginning. Because every ending is really a beginning. All you need is a house that's old and creaky ... filled with lots of books ... a cat ... a person who's willing to try again ... someone who promises never to leave ... and most important of all ... a little Hope.

Kate Klise

#24. Remember that other people are as real as you.Other people's feelings are as real as yours.In fact, our feelings are what make us real.

Kate Klise

#25. I love the Bronte sisters, but I feel a closer kinship to the Ephron sisters, Nora and Delia, if only because their work makes me laugh more than the Brontes. I also love the Mitford sisters with their secret language and their endless letters back and forth.

Kate Klise

#26. Every writer dreams of having a backyard cottage, similar to Dahl's 'writing hut.' English cottages and charming huts might seem out of reach, but a good carpenter could build a modest cottage on the cheap.

Kate Klise

#27. As writers, we must keep throwing problems at our characters. Conflict is the heart of good storytelling. Hiking in nature along a twisting trail can remind us what a good story feels like. It's the opposite of a treadmill - or an interstate highway.

Kate Klise

#28. You don't have to know what you want to be. That comes later. But I want you to know what you want to be. That comes later. But I want you to want more than just having a job and muddling through life. I want you to find a passion you believe in strongly enough to risk humiliation and rejection.

Kate Klise

#29. Among my books, the ones that sell best are for readers between the ages of 8 and 12. According to a study by the Association of American Publishers, the largest area of industry growth in 2014 was in the children and young adult category.

Kate Klise

#30. The tagline at Westin hotels is that they strive to surprise and delight their guests. This is exactly what a college essay should do.

Kate Klise

#31. I walked down Paseo del Prado, losing myself to the sights, sounds, and dense magic of the city. There's something weirdly calming about being alone in a big city. It made me feel like the universe was hugely generous, and that my species was so damn smart to have constructed such a beautiful city.

Kate Klise

#32. I like working on stories where I can explore the darker corners of childhood without illustrations but with humor.

Kate Klise

#33. I think romance is harder in the digital or postdigital age or whatever we're supposed to call it. Love is harder.

Kate Klise

#34. And you know, the crazy thing about love," I went on, "is that you can tell the other person anything in the world, and they'll love you. No matter what.

Kate Klise

#35. During the holiday season, it's easy to forget that sometimes the best gift of all is simply the gift of time. I can't think of anything a writer would appreciate more than being given time and space to work.

Kate Klise

#36. What do people want? Well, you really can't talk about wants until you talk about needs.

Kate Klise

#37. If these artist were trying to convince me that the pursuit of love in the postdigital age was more exciting, more mysterious, more ... . well, everything love should be, they'd failed.

Kate Klise

#38. But for those of us lucky to be alive there are some things that should be said face to face.

Kate Klise

#39. Is that what I wanted? To be in the middle of something complicated and dramatic? To be a cheerleader for someone else's romance? Or to have a romance of my own?

Kate Klise

#40. Recent studies have shown that our creativity is increased by 60% when we're walking. I encourage my workshop participants to write at their desks but think on their feet.

Kate Klise

#41. Writing for children isn't easy. Kids will abandon a story that doesn't interest, enchant, delight, thrill, or terrify them. But when you can find a way into a young reader's imagination through something as simple as words on paper, well, there's nothing more satisfying.

Kate Klise

#42. And you know, that's another reason I named her Coco. Because to me, chocolate is about indulging in things that give you pleasure. And what's the point of life if you can't find joy?

Kate Klise

#43. Because that's what art is; that's what it does. It breaks your heart. It moves you. If it doesn't do that, forget it. It's not worth it.

Kate Klise