We are literally in the heart of Jesus,' he said.'I thought we were in a church basement, but we are literally in the heart of Jesus.'Someone should tell Jesus,' I said. 'I mean, it's gotta be dangerous, storing children with cancer in your heart.

We don't tend to write about disease in fiction - not just teen novels but all American novels - because it doesn't fit in with our idea of the heroic romantic epic. There is room only for sacrifice, heroism, war, politics and family struggle.

I mean, he was something that happened to me, you know? But before he was this minor figure in the drama of my life he was - you know, the central figure in the drama of his own life.

As a child I was an inveterate liar. As opposed to now, I am a Novelist.

I leave, and the leaving is so exhilarating I know I can never go back. But then what? Do I just keep leaving places, and leaving them, and leaving them, tramping a perpetual journey?

Most of my friends were in band, and most of my free time during school was spent within twenty feet of the band room.