Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness
Patrick Nessis an American author, journalist and lecturer who moved to London at age of 28 and now holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionYoung Adult Author
Date of Birth17 October 1971
CountryUnited States of America
anybody call express fan folk gives great heavy means people wants wonderful
Anything that anybody wants to give me is great! I've had folk songs, heavy metal songs, jewellery... I would never call anything any fan gives me weird, as it's how people express what they like about the books, what it means to them, and that's a wonderful thing.
mean cuz fingers
Just cuz yer going there and I'm staying here," I say. "It don't mean we're parting." "No," she says and I know she understands. "No, it certainly doesn't." "I ain't parting from you again," I say, still looking at our fingers. "Not even in my head.
mean change-for-the-better
...and changing for the better doesn't mean that he's ever going to reach good...
mean firsts coming-back
I promised to keep on going but maybe keep on going means coming back first.
mean eye forgiving
So we forgive each other?" The crooked smile climbs up one more time. "Again?" And I look right into his eyes, right into him as far as I can see, because I want him to hear me, I want him to hear me with everything I mean and feel and say. "Always," I say to him. "Every time.
real mean way-to-live
Real life is only ever just real life. Messy. What it means depends on how you look at it. The only thing you’ve got to do is find a way to live there.
buy people whenever
Whenever I have tried to write for other people, that's when my writing has failed, when nobody wanted to read it or buy it. But it's only when I've been able to write a story that makes me excited, only then have other people wanted to read it.
war survivor accepting
No one escapes from a war. No one. Not even the survivors. You accept things that would appall you at any other time because life has temporarily lost all meaning.
fighting men life-is
The only crime, the only crime is to take a life. There is nothing else.' 'And that's why you don't fight,'I say. She turns to me sharply. 'To preserve life is to fight everything that man stands for.
connect online readers solitary
Online is such a brilliant, brilliant way to connect with young readers - even if they just want to tweet, 'Hey, I read your book!' - that, absolutely, I connect with that. But I also treat writing as solitary and keep it to myself as long as I can.
boy complex drape framework great love plot stuff tend ya
Plot is a framework on which to drape other things. So once that's working, I can just let it go and do all the stuff that I love - 'Trojan horse' it. There are so many great YA heroines, and that's fantastic, but what about the emotionally complex boy out there? That's who I tend to write about.
allow anyone hugely inspiring
Limitations can be hugely creative and hugely inspiring - so long as they are the ones you choose for yourself. I will not allow anyone to take anything off my palette, but if I do, then within that, I can be creative.
rewrite
I write 1,000-1,500 words. The next day, I rewrite it and add 1,000-1,500 words to the end of it.
either expectation sit sneak
If I sit down to write a young-adult novel, then I'm going to write either to the punch-pulling expectation of what I can't do, or I'm going to go the other way and think about what can I sneak in to be 'down with the kids' - which would be excruciating.