Top 35 Quotes by Sara Zarr

My first published book, 'Story of a Girl', was the fourth book I wrote.

Family or love or romance, whatever it is, is not restricted to perfect people. If it were, it wouldn't exist. All of that comes out in my work in some way.

I tend to describe recurring themes as being part of a writer's DNA - something so deeply embedded in us that even we don't notice it until we've written three or four books.

Making lists of favorite things is, for me, a task ridden with anxiety. What if I've accidentally excluded something I love? What if I discover something new tomorrow that I love even more?

There were about ten years of trying, failing, trying again, suffering rejection, etc. My first published book, 'Story of a Girl', was the fourth book I wrote.

I was a 'learn by doing' writer - I never took any formal writing classes. So it took a long time to figure things out and find my voice.

I don't want to pretend like I'm some intellectual person who understands Flannery O'Connor.

I grew up in San Francisco in the 1970s. We were part of a church that belonged to the California Jesus movement.

I wanted to be free to write the way I wanted to write, and my impression of Christian publishing, at least in fiction, was that there wasn't room for what I wanted to write.

I didn't 'decide' to write YA, per se. But every time I thought of a story, it featured characters 15, 16, 17.