Eric Walters

I don't chase publishers. Publishers chase me.

My whole background as a social worker has allowed me to understand human behavior in difficult situations. Working in Kenya, I see the most desperate situations - things I could never believe possible - and then have to try to find solutions.

It doesn't matter what you have if you can't protect it.

The first time my father woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me he was going to die, I think I was eight. He brought out all his papers and explained to me what to do with his body and who to call and how to take care of things. You either learn how to survive, or you fall to pieces. I'm pretty good at surviving.

My family claims I think I'm always right, although I'm always willing to be proven wrong. I hold my opinions dearly, but you can always try to convince me differently, and if you do, I will hold that opinion dearly. I am decidedly stubborn and have been described as not having a type-A personality, but a quadruple-A personality.

I always have a rough outline, but I'm shocked at how little I actually follow it. Those characters keep doing things that I never expected. I think if I crept up to my keyboard and peeked, they'd be talking about things behind my back. Okay, that's a little paranoid and delusional... but just a little.

I wrote my first 30 books as a teacher. I would read to my classes, and they'd give me feedback. I was trying to role model.

I'm a big believer in bibliotherapy. Books have the power to change lives: what we think and what we do.

At his heart, Shakespeare was a YA author. So many of his plays are set with high school-aged characters. He understood the passion, the confusion and drama that marks that life stage.