My father was a very unhappy person, very sarcastic, and my mother was very nervous and worried about what people thought. They weren't monsters, but it wasn't a good childhood. Paula Danziger More Quotes by Paula Danziger More Quotes From Paula Danziger When my father would yell at me, I told myself someday I'd use it in a book. Paula Danziger use father book Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth. Paula Danziger silly writing people Mistakes are growth, and we learn not to do it again. But it doesn't make you a terrible person. That's important to me. Paula Danziger growth important mistake Sometimes it's easier to show than it is to tell Paula Danziger easier shows sometimes I feel like I'm addicted to the printed word. Paula Danziger printed printed-word feels I deal with unhappy marriages a lot. I've never been married, I'm single Paula Danziger happy-marriage married unhappy We spend our whole lives recovering from high school. Paula Danziger whole-life adolescence school Normally, I name my characters after famous comedians. Paula Danziger comedian names character It's not easy being so frightened of everything. And when I think of how much I've improved in the last year, I wonder when I'll ever get finished with making changes and be really grown up. Paula Danziger lasts years thinking Pistachio nuts, the red ones, cure any problem. Paula Danziger pistachios red nuts In my next life, I want to be tall and thin, parallel park and make good coffee. But for now, I have lots of stuff to work out in my life, but I'll have that until the day I die. I want to write more books Paula Danziger coffee writing book I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them Paula Danziger lucky gone book I think my books talk about kids learning to like and respect themselves and each other. You can't write a message book; you just tell the best story you know how to tell Paula Danziger writing kids book I didn't expect to be doing a whole bunch of Amber Browns. And because it was just one book, and the father had moved away, I didn't realize I was going to have to deal more with shared custody, divorce and all those issues Paula Danziger divorce father book I try to be careful because technology changes so much over the years. But some things don't change. Kids and parents have disagreements, kids try to manipulate, parents try to sit down with rules and regs. That part never changes Paula Danziger technology kids years I wish I had had my books when I was a kid, I do Paula Danziger wish kids book I made the choice long ago to write about real life. And life is both serious and funny. Paula Danziger long-ago real writing I tried to write with someone else once before, but it was not successful. Paula Danziger successful writing At age 12, I was put on tranquilizers when I should have gotten help. There was nothing major and awful, I just didn't feel my family was supportive and emotionally generous Paula Danziger supportive should-have age I want to keep meeting new people, enlarging my circle of friends. I have great friends now... really good people. But I'm always ready for what comes next Paula Danziger circles want people