D.J. MacHale Quotes

The two circled around the back of the house, making sure that nobody saw them. Once inside, they found Patrick right where they had left him, sitting in front of Mark's computer. The only difference was that he was surrounded by bags of Doritos and cans of Mountain Dew. He looked up at them with wild eyes.
You okay?" Courtney asked.
I'm fantastic!" Patrick exclaimed. "This sugary drink is incredible!"
Swell," Courtney remarked sarcastically. "He's wired on Dew.

Mine would be, "We will stand together, he and I. One in victory, one in shame. Only then can I truly own the power of Halla. How sweet the moment of revelation will be, when he learns that he handed it to me." -SD the Pilgrims of Rayne

I rode my bike home and did the one thing that always helped when things weren't going well. I read. Books were my refuge. Getting lost in a solid adventure story was the best way I knew of to turn off reality.

That Loor's a handful, she is. - Spader (Black Water)

We took the elevator back down from the first observation level of the Eiffel Tower and started walking in he direction of the Taj Mahal

When you think something's out of reach, you back off and say you didn't want it anyway.

Do you know how hard it is to gather seventy thousand people? Especially people who are confused and scared that they might be eaten by hungry dinosaurs?

Seriously. Dados bounce." Bobby in Raven Rise

It wasn't that I didn't trust Mark's flying, it was just that, okay, I didn't trust Mark's flying.

I stood on the street, staring up at the most normal-looking house in the world. My house. I'd lived there my entire life. It was home. It was safe.
It was haunted.
The only other explanation was that I was demented. I couldn't say which I was rooting for.

I've made mistakes. More than my share. Hopefully, I've learned from them, but can't guarentee anything. There's only one thing I can promise. I'm taking this to the end.
-Bobby Pendragon

I felt as if I learned a few things. I learned that it's sometimes okay to think like a weenie, so long as you don't act like one - at least not all the time. I learned that it's okay to be wrong, as long as you can admit it and are willing to listen to those who may know better.

The moment. I think back on it. A lot. It's like revisiting a favorite place. A place you wish you could go to again. But I can't because that place doesn't exist anymore, except in my memory.

The history of each and every territory is written in the blood of those who died trying to fulfill the aspirations of their ambitious leaders.

I met Pendragon when I made the journey to the far desert. He is from the tribe known as ... as ... " Loor was scrambling. Bokka didn't know about the Travelers. I had to bail her out.
Yankees," I said. "The Yankees tribe." Hey, what can I say? It was the first thing that came to mind. "It's a strong tribe," I added. "Respected by all ... except for our mortal enemies, the Sox tribe. They hate us. Especially the Red ones. Cannibals. Nasty characters.

Cooper's imagination was endless, I looked at the bales of felt and saw... bales of felt. Cooper was more like my mom. He didn't just see what was in front of him--he saw potential.

What exactly is a french before it's fried?

where is here, when is now??

Never make the first move. - Loor (The Rivers of Zadaa)

I hate clowns. I've mentioned that, right?

Before I can face the future, I must first deal with the past.

The single best piece of advice I give to aspiring writers is to always write about things that they know. I suggest that they write about people and places and events and conflicts they are familiar with. That way their writing will be real and hopefully readers will respond to it. I try to take my own advice.

If I weren't already dead, I'd have to kill myself just so I could roll over in my grave.

Dont you know... I'm the boggyman."-St. Dane

Perhaps you should bite me", Bobby Pendragon.

I was disappointed in Coop. He hated being bored and so did I. He was always looking for different things to do and coming up with new adventures that kept us moving. That was his job. Trolling for girls at the beach was okay by me, but I didn't want it to be our sole focus. Besides, the girls I liked had more interesting things to do than spend every waking moment sitting around at the beach comparing tans.

I went to the four levers. None of them were marked. There was only one way to figure out which one was the right one. I had to call upon all my Traveler experience and special powers to figure it out. It's called ... Eenie, meenie, miney ... mo!
-Bobby Pendragon

As I stood there, looking into the eyes of the Travelers, something happened. For each one of those brief moments, I reconnected with a true friend. Though no words were exchanged, they were each telling me the same thing. They were with me. I truly believed that if I had asked any one of them to follow me through the gates of hell, I'd have to hold them back from going in first.

This is the way it was ment to be

I'm the terrorist, do what I say or I'll terrorize you.

I believe that stories find writers, writers don't find stories. With the 'Pendragon' series, I actually had multiple story ideas and decided that instead of writing them individually, I would create a character whose journey would thread them all together.

I can't let that happen again. The stakes are way too high. I know that, now more than ever. If there's anything good that came from my failure on First Earth, it's that I have now totally given myself over to being a Traveler.

I was safe. Uncomfortable as hell, but safe.-Bobby, RR

This has been the freakin' longest night of my life," I said with dismay. "Yeah," he replied. "And it's not over yet.

My feelings for you run very deep." - Loor
Not deep enought, I guess." - Bobby
(The Rivers of Zadaa)

We may have been like needles in a hay stack, but they were like needles ... in a stack of needles

You see, art makes people think. Blok didn't want people to think. If that happened, they might have realized what was actually happening.

Portland, Maine, is more like a big town than a booming metropolis. It was built around fishing, turned to manufacturing, but then eventually became one of those cities that you don't really know why it exists other than to take care of itself. The population was only around sixty thousand, but that still made it the biggest city in Maine.

When I'm on tour, I get to meet hundreds of enthusiastic readers. There is truly nothing better for an author than having someone come up to them and say, "I loved your book." For that, I'll take off my shoes at airport x-rays and sit cramped in an airline seat for hours with nothing to eat but a tiny bag of peanuts. It's totally worth it. Writing

Gotta love Walmart. Where else can you buy Fritos and bullets?

Courtney came over to me and touched my cheek. I winced. It hurt.
You look like hell," Courtney said.
I shrugged.
She looked at Saint Dane, then back at me. "He looks worse." She smiled. "Awesome.

You'd better put sunblock on that skeleton head of yours. You're gonna fry. -Bobby

Not just chubby fat, I'm talkin' gordo

I love you Mark ... " Courtney, PoR.
I love you too Courtney ... " Mark, PoR.

It is much more fun to write about villains then heroes. The villains are the ones that think out the scheme, and the heroes just kind of come along for the ride.

You want to kill me, don't you? And here I thought you and your friends were so righteous. You are just as capable of evil as anyone. Perhaps more so. Yet you believe your brand of evil is justified, so long as it serves your own misguided purposes.
Saint Dane

I knew what Saint Dane was sensing. I knew why he was confused. he thought I was done. He thought we were done. He was wrong, and that's what he was sensing. He felt our presence. I figured I might as well confirm things for him.
"Pendragon, don't
," Patrick warned.
I stepped out fron behind the pillar into the light.
"Man, that suit is just wicked cool!" I called out.

Then what have you proved?" I asked. "Only that people will always try to make a better life for themselves.

I see you brought along your violent little girlfriend. What a nice surprise! - Saint Dane (The Reality Bug)

Next time you wish to feed me poison, warn me first, Loor demanded. (The Merchant of Death)

Aja gave Loor an up and down once-over. She then said, "Is Loor a man's name or a woman's name?"
Ouch.
Loor answered, "It is the name of a legendary hero on Zadaa. A woman."
Really?" Aja said. "What did she do that was so heroic?"
She killed her enemies and ate them.

I really suggest the Pendragon series to all readers unless you are afraid of gore!

You can't have pride without humility. Aggression without tolerance. Strength without compassion. Power without restraint.

Can I ask you a question?" "I'd be disappointed if you didn't." "How many of those suits do you have? Do you like, send them to the laundry, or throw them out and put on a new one when it gets all gamey?" - Bobby talking to Saint Dane, RR

I'm not sure why that story came back to me while I sat huddled in Sydney's car on the way to the lake. It happened so long ago. I guess maybe it was because it gave me the assurance that when things got bad, there were certain people you could always count on.

It's a supernatural library filled with unfinished ghost stories, written by ghosts, where time has no meaning , and the Boogeyman wants to blow it all up. What exactly is it you think I can handle about any of that ?

There are only two types of people in this world; people who hate clowns, and clowns.

Mark: When did you learn to drive? Courtney: About three seconds ago.

Nights were the worst. I'd try to get some sleep, only to be thrown out of bed and dragged out into the compound for another game of "Let's whack Bobby in the dark!" - Bobby Pendragon, RoZ

To write a good mystery you have to know where it will end before you can decide where it will begin ... and I've always known where it will end.

...[T]he bottom line is that I made the right decision. So maybe it's okay to think like a weenie sometimes, so long as you don't act like one. There's grand philosophy in there someplace.

Hobey-Ho, let's go.

At least I thought it was a wall. It sure felt like one. It was hard. It was flat. It stretched out on either side of me. You know ... wall.

Spader and I were nearly killed. Three times. We were also robbed and witnessed a gruesome murder. Happy birthday to me!

Even at the end of the road, read the first sentence, there is a road. Even at the end of the road, a new road stretches out, endless and open, a road that may lead anywhere. To him who will find it, there is always a road.

Oh yeah, and Spader was hanging out with a penguin
-Bobby Pendragon

That's the way it was meant to be

Whenever you look back and say "if" you know you're in trouble. There is no such thing as "if". The only thing that matters is what really happened.

There will be no more protest. No more dissension. No more violence. There will be only one voice. The voice of Ravinia. The voice of Halla. Your voice." "There goes freedom of speech." I said
Alexnder Naymeer and Bobby Pendragon, Raven Rise, Page 458

Riggedy riggedy white Come and spend the night We'll play some games Some wild some tame Cause if you will, you might. By, Laberge

Storytelling is storytelling. Good stories need compelling characters and interesting conflicts. That's the bottom line no matter what medium you're writing for.

Is Loor a man's name or a woman's name?" Aja, TRB.
It is the name of a female warrior." Loor, TRB.
What did she do that was so heroic?" Aja, TRB
She killed her enemies and ate them." Loor, TRB.

I saw the horrible way that people could treat each other. That may be the saddest thing of all. I saw greed and anger and murder and a total lack of concern for human life. It was a wicked side of the human soul that I saw ... and it saddened me to know that such a dark place existed.

If I fall out, pull this ring? What happens then? I sprout wings and fly?" -Spader in "The Never War

Now it was just the three of us: the leader, the warrior, and the kid about to wet his pants. Guess who I was.

My life is an ongoing, ever changing adventure.

Said to him. "We aren't playing here. Guns kill people." "Guns don't kill people," Tori said. "People kill people." "People with guns kill people," I said. "But you're right. We have to be able to protect ourselves.

Siry answered with one simple, shattering word. Veelox.

I have a sudden urge to pee.- Spader