I had tried writing novels for many years, and they always escaped me. For a long time, I thought, ‘It’s just not in me to write a novel. It’s not something I’m able to do.’ It seemed like everything I wrote naturally ended at the bottom of page three. A picture book, three pages; an essay, three pages. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
Flat or uninteresting writing often signals something deeper that is being covered up. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
At any given time, all of us have an empty spot: one that is calling for companionship, for example, or for justice, love, romance, or a belly laugh. When I sit down to write, I look to see what hole needs filling at that particular moment. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
They were the darkest of times, the years following the crash of the stock market in 1929. Thousands of people across the United States were cast out of their Jobs, off their farms, out of their homes and apartments, and into the crushing depths of poverty. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
One afternoon, I was playing this new video game, ‘Blood and Guts.’ I was controlling Gruesome Gus versus the Crimson Menace, and I had totally waxed the guy. It was this really complex sequence of moves, and I was so excited about conquering the game that I wanted to show it to someone. Unfortunately, the only one home at the time was Mom. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
Magic happens, see. It’s just like on those bumper stickers, the ones that say, ‘Miracles Happen’, or ‘Jesus Happens’. I never really took those too seriously. I mean, they’re bumper stickers. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Miracles? Right. Jesus? Maybe. But magic? Kathi Appelt Read Quote
My favorite was the one about ‘Snow White’. Those funky little guys with the beards. The poisonous apple. And that cool mirror the evil stepmother used to talk to. You know, she’d ask it all these questions: Who’s the nicest? Who’s the sweetest… Who’s the fairest of them all? And for a while, everything was hunky-dory. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
Obsidian was caused by volcanoes, an eruption of steam and gas so furious that it melted the earth itself into this hard, shiny object. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
I’m fully conscious of the fact that I wouldn’t be the writer that I am without this place, without Vermont College. Kathi Appelt Read Quote
