Being a librarian certainly helped me with my writing because it made me even more of a reader, and I was always an enthusiastic reader. Writing and reading seem to me to be different aspects of a single imaginative act. Margaret Mahy actaspectenthusiastic share on social
I've never actually been a fighter myself - fighting tires me out and I'm not an efficient fighter anyway - but I have certainly seen other people have great complicated goes at one another. Margaret Mahy complicateefficientfight Change image and share on social
The novels take longer to write than the picture book texts, and they do take a different sort of concentration. However, a very short, simple story that works well is just as exciting to me as any longer and more complex book. Margaret Mahy bookcomplexconcentration share on social
When you are reading, someone has done a lot of work on your behalf, someone has had ideas and has then written and corrected and improved them so that they can be shared. Margaret Mahy behalfcorrectidea Change image and share on social
I am really chained to my computer these days so I work in my bedroom, which is a room I have worked in for years and years. It is just as much an office as a bedroom, and during the day, my bed is rather like an extension of my desk. Margaret Mahy bedbedroomchain share on social
Anyone interested in the world generally can't help being interested in young adult culture - in the music, the bands, the books, the fashions, and the way in which the young adult community develops its own language. Margaret Mahy adultbandbook share on social
When you are writing, of course, you have to do all that writing and correcting for yourself. When I was a librarian it was expected that I would know about a wide range of books. Margaret Mahy bookcorrectexpect Change image and share on social
It is a good idea to know which publishers publish which stories. For example, there is no sense in sending a picture book text to a publisher who does not publish picture books. Margaret Mahy bookgoodidea Change image and share on social
Ellis's understanding of himself and the world around him certainly develops because of his adventures, and part of that development comes through recognizing other people for what they are. Margaret Mahy adventuredevelopdevelopment Change image and share on social
At this stage I am not involved with young adults as closely as many other writers. My children are grown up and my grandchildren are still quite young. Margaret Mahy adultchildclosely Change image and share on social
