Book Quote by Matt de la Pena

As an author, you go into the school, it gets written about in the paper. It sucks that your book was banned, but you…

— Matt de la Pena

Whenever I teach writing I tell them to never revise as you go. Finish the first draft. This is my writing advice. I can't…

— Matt de la Pena

When you first quit your regular job and you become a full-time writer, you are paralyzed with free time. You have so much free…

— Matt de la Pena

I think the world sort of looks to the kids who have potential. These are the kids who are going to do something with…

— Matt de la Pena

I think we all try to figure out ways to ignore the fact that life is about suffering. In the modern world, that's what…

— Matt de la Pena

Growing up as a mixed-race kid myself, when you are in the middle of it and you're young...you don't think about it consciously. It's…

— Matt de la Pena

A lot of people think that they are really cool because they don't outline. In my writing group, they would say, "I will never…

— Matt de la Pena

The second book, which was probably more from a professional standpoint - when I read Junot Díaz's Drown, I was like, Oh my god,…

— Matt de la Pena

When I was young, I grew up in a family of working-class people. Not just my parents, but my extended family, as well.

— Matt de la Pena

Once I got into college, I discovered literature - in particular, multicultural literature. I just started to understand the power of story and narrative,…

— Matt de la Pena

The feeling it gave me was an odd combination of weightless self-pity and excitement. I understood my life was meaningless, and this knowledge freed…

— Matt de la Pena

When I finish a book, I'll go to that file and look through them. And I'll say, these are three that really excite me…

— Matt de la Pena