John Corey Whaley Quotes & Sayings

In the middle of my fourth year teaching is when I got my book contract - in 2010. I knew the book would come out in May 2011. — John Corey Whaley

Maybe we all just exist, all versions of us exist at times, and we have to figure out a way to get to each of them, to find each one and tell that version that it's okay, that it's all justthe way it works, a concept too powerful to ignore but too complicated to explain. — John Corey Whaley

Jealous of the crazy gay kid. That doesn't sound right."
"Hey, Sol," she said, her tone getting serious for a second.
"Those are two things about you out of a million. Don't box yourself in. — John Corey Whaley

I guess the most interesting thing about Gabriel was that he didn't seem to care at all what people were thinking about him. He walked down the hallway at school with his head down not because he wanted to avoid being seen or dissuade social predators or anything , but simply because he didn't see any reason to lift up his head. — John Corey Whaley

A sibling represents a person's past, present, and future — John Corey Whaley

Now, no matter what they told themselves or each other, it would always be different. After all, no first love goes away overnight, especially one that's always right in front of you, but just out of your reach. — John Corey Whaley

The thing to know about my brother was that even though he was fifteen, he looked to be about the same age as me. Only, I'm not sure if that was because he looked older or I looked younger. I like to think it was a healthy mixture of both. — John Corey Whaley

The Quit Man cometh, his minion at his heels. — John Corey Whaley

But I know what it's like to constantly think about a life you aren't living. — John Corey Whaley

Your mind has a way of not letting you forget things you wish you could. Especially with people. Like, you'll always try your best to forget things that people say to you or about you, but you always remember. And you'll try to forget things you've seen that no one should see, but you just can't do it. And when you try to forget someone's face, you can't get it out of your head. — John Corey Whaley

I know what it's like to be from an incredibly small town and the oppressiveness of it and the desire to get out. But I didn't realize that readers in Seattle, New York, and San Francisco might not get that so instinctively. — John Corey Whaley

They say using your imagination makes you live longer. — John Corey Whaley

When one of us is dying, they say a part of all of us is. I think that's why it hurts. We go our whole lives losing little chunks until we can't lose any more of them. — John Corey Whaley

Some people sign on for the impossible. And they're the ones everybody remembers. — John Corey Whaley

I've found that a combination of therapy and medication, along with lifestyle choices like eating better and exercising regularly, helps me cope well with my anxiety. — John Corey Whaley

I do come from a very close family. And I'm fascinated, in particular, with family relationships and the relationships that we all form with friends who feel as close, if not closer, than family. — John Corey Whaley

Call it egotistical or narcissist, but I think that's what we all look for in books - the right stories that help us make sense of the world that we, on a very personal level, live in every day. — John Corey Whaley

Janis was completely caught off guard that Lisa finally stood up for herself — John Corey Whaley

The unspoken philosophy of all those in love with Ada was something like this: If I have to die to get that, then death it is. — John Corey Whaley

I'm not sure I can do this anymore."
"Do what?"
"This. Exist. Be here like this with everything so fucked up."
"Hey, Travis? I don't think it really matters if you know how to exist."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think any of us do."
"Then what are we doing?"
"I don't know. We're just meandering. — John Corey Whaley

We are who we are. You know that better than anyone. — John Corey Whaley

Do you ever stand in here with that garage door open?"

"No I do not."

"Interesting," Clark said. — John Corey Whaley

But at home, that same day he'd jumped into the fountain, he'd gotten so anxious, pacing around the living room listening to his parents try to calm him, that he suddenly just lost it completely and slapped his face. He immediately started crying, confused and guilty, looking up at his parents like he had no idea how it happened. And, really, that's the way it always was with the hitting. It would happen so fast, his body shaking to release the tension that built up from all the thoughts swirling through his mind and all the air he was having trouble breathing and all the loud beating of his own heart ringing in his ears. It had to get out and that was the path it chose. Slap. Instant relief. — John Corey Whaley

Everyone just outgrew me. Now I think I'm just haunting them. — John Corey Whaley

All that time I'd spent worrying about why I'm here and how I'm supposed to live had kept me from remembering that Jeremy Pratt will never be back. His people will never have him again. He is Jeremy Pratt who died and stayed dead and will never get a second chance. And even though that hand that spent the last five years holding hers was somehow doing it again, it wasn't Jeremy Pratt's anyone — John Corey Whaley

You can find ways to be okay with dying, but you can't fake your way through living. — John Corey Whaley

I've been an assistant to a folklorist and a teacher. There may or may not have been some sandwich-making at a certain sub chain in my past as well. — John Corey Whaley

I don't want to lie about who I am, even if it doesn't matter. It's who I am. It's part of me. — John Corey Whaley

Ada Taylor knelt beside me on the floor as I cried for the first time over the thought that my favorite person in the world was probably dead. — John Corey Whaley

It was easier for me to hate everyone in town than hate myself for being afraid I'd be just like them. — John Corey Whaley

We've learned from this that death can hurt us. It can surprise us. It can scare us. It can keep us up a night. But we've also learned the things that death cannot do. It cannot crush our hopes. It cannot take away the love and support of our family and friends. It cannot make us lose our unending faith in world and in God. It has saddened us, but it will not prevail. — John Corey Whaley

Solomon had good days and he had bad days, but the good had far outnumbered the bad since Lisa and Clark had started coming around. Sometimes, though, they'd show up and he's look completely exhausted, drained of all his charm and moving in slow motion. They could do that to him - the attacks. Something about the physical response to panic can drain all the energy out of a person, and it doesn't matter what causes it or how long it lasts. What Solomon had was unforgiving and sneaky and as smart as any other illness. It was like a virus or cancer that would hide just long enough to fool him into thinking it was gone. And because it showed up when it damn well pleased, he'd learned to be honest about it, knowing that embarrassment only made it worse. — John Corey Whaley

We let them help because they needed it, not us. We didn't let them help us because we needed it, we let them help us because inside of humans is this thing, this unnamed need to feel as if we are usefel in the world. To feel as if we have something significant to contribute.
Cullen — John Corey Whaley

It's not too hard to disappear when no one's looking for you. — John Corey Whaley

I call it the Pretty Paradox. Pretty girls always want guys who treat them, and most everyone else, like complete shit. It is perhaps one of the most baffling phenomena of history.
Cullen — John Corey Whaley

I grew up in a little town with about 6,000 or 7,000 people. I always knew from 11 or 12 years old that I wanted to be a writer, and I always wanted to write about growing up in a place like that that's small and you don't fit into. — John Corey Whaley

I was a terrible reader as a kid. I mean terrible. Super slow and very unfocused. It took me forever to read a book, and I remember being well into high school and still needing my mom to sit down and read aloud to me so I could pass my English tests and such. — John Corey Whaley

And, long after Clark had gone home, Solomon stayed up wondering if everyone falls in love with someone who can't love them back. — John Corey Whaley

No matter how often you see or talk to someone, no matter how much you know them or don't know them, you always fill up some space in their lives that can't ever be replaced the right way again once you leave it. — John Corey Whaley

What he feared the most was that all this hiding had made it impossible for him to ever be found again. — John Corey Whaley

He looks back down to find that his brother is no longer there. He is no longer there to stop him from ridiculing Merle Hodge or making some smart-ass remark about woodpeckers. He doesn't stop him when he thinks about asking the tour guide an unanswerable question or when he considers pretending to see a large bird off in the distance. He isn't there anymore to supply Cullen Witter with endless chances to do better. — John Corey Whaley

He accepted him for what he was. And that Data concluded, was true friendship. — John Corey Whaley

I'm beyond thrilled to be working with Faber, whose literary history is second to none. And I'm even more excited to bring my books to a wider audience in the U.K. — John Corey Whaley

You're both living these lives you didn't choose to live in a world full of people telling you what that's supposed to mean. That's messed up. — John Corey Whaley

She knew it was weird that she'd reached out to him the way she had. But she also knew that there were a lot of people in the world who regretted never doing the things they felt were right because they were afraid of seeming strange or crazy. Lisa wouldn't settle for that sort of mediocre existence, one bound by invisible social cues. And she had a good feeling that someone like Solomon Reed would appreciate that. — John Corey Whaley

That's the thing. You come back and you expect everyone to be just the way they were when you left. But it's not that easy, okay? You can't just force us all to be how you liked us. — John Corey Whaley

I'm a huge 'Game of Thrones' fan. — John Corey Whaley

When one is sitting in his bedroom and, happening to glance out the window, sees his little brother walking slowly down the driveway, he immediately jumps up, knocks over a stack of magazines piled up beside him, and runs through the doorway and down the hall. He throws open the front door, slams his body, against the screen, and hearing the tap tap tap behind him, jumps over the porch steps and down to the driveway. He stands several yards in front of his brother. He considers running, but doesn't. His arms and legs are shaking. His bottom lip between his teeth, he walks slowly and carefully, making not a sound. He stops, reaches one arm out, and pokes Gabriel Witter on the left shoulder with his index finger. He smiles the slightest of smiles.
Book Title #89: Where Things Come Back — John Corey Whaley

Maybe my time's running out, but at least I'm living. And if that's what it is for you, being here inside where nothing ever happens, where you think you're safe, then stay. Stay right here and you let me know how that works for you.
Bacause I'm gessing it'll never be enough. — John Corey Whaley

She believed in herself maybe more than other people believed in God or the devil or Heaven or Hell. — John Corey Whaley

Isn't it better not knowing? Like, just liking each other and seeing each other all the time without any definition to it? — John Corey Whaley

If this were an indie movie, we'd start talking about the constellations," Solomon said, looking up at the stars. — John Corey Whaley

If you had to pick between living on the East Coast or the West Coast, which would you choose? I never told her what I wanted to give as my answer, that I would choose whichever coast my brother happened to be hiding on or locked in a basement near or buried under. I never told her that even if I did know what I wanted to be, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Lily as long as I knew my brother might show up one day or that whoever was responsible for his leaving was still out there somewhere waiting to do it again and again and again until a thousand Cullen Witters were seeing zombies of their dead brothers standing by their beds at night. I would need to be there to protect him. — John Corey Whaley

Is that what you think I'm going to do? Snap and kill you?" he asked. "Not me, you won't. I keep mace in my purse. You never know what kind of creep'll be shopping for a house." "Wait ... what?" "Invite — John Corey Whaley

Fulton Dumas, do you know where Gabriel Witter is?"
"No," he said, his expression changing suddenly from surprised embarrassment to sadness.
"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.
"Why would I know where he is?"
"I don't know, Fulton. Why do you need a thousand stuffed bears? Have you seen Gabriel Witter? — John Corey Whaley

She hadn't heard the words Star Trek in seven days and it felt amazing. The — John Corey Whaley

And then he spent three years wondering why everyone found that so hard to understand. All he was doing was living instead of dying. Some people get cancer. Some people get crazy. Nobody tries to take the chemo away. — John Corey Whaley

Not only had my brother disappeared, but
and bear with me here
a part of my very being had gone with him. Stories about us could, from them on, be told from only one perspective. Memories could be told but not shared. — John Corey Whaley

If you could be any character on The Next Generation, who would you be?"
"Easy," Solomon said. "Data. For sure."
"That makes sense," Clark said.
"You?"
"I always liked Wesley Crusher."
"What?" Solomon was appalled. "Nobody likes Wesley Crusher."
"Why not?" Lisa asked.
"Because he's a total Mary Sue," Solomon said. "He's too perfect."
"But he's always saving the day," Clark argued. "Like, always."
"Exactly. He's just a talking deus ex machina. Everybody on the ship treats him like a dumb kid, then he saves them at the last minute and, every single time, they go right back to treating him like a dumb kid again. Do I need to remind you that the starship Enterprise is full of genius scientists and engineers? Why's this kid who can't get into Starfleet Academy smarter than all of them?"
"Good point," Clark said. "He's still my choice, though. — John Corey Whaley

You think too much," Lucas said to me on the banks of the White River the next day.
"I think too much?" I asked, my voice raised.
"Yeah. You can't just sit back and relax without analyzing every little thing," he said.
"That's what you do, Lucas!" I said.
"Only sometimes," he said back.
"Just as much as I do, I'd say."
"Whatever. That's not the point. The point is, you - sorry, we need to learn how to just calm down and take everything in before trying to pick it all apart."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because we always end up ruinin' it before it begins. — John Corey Whaley

We talked for a while longer about whether or not I was going to study writing or just be like everyone else who wanted to be a writer and become a teacher instead. — John Corey Whaley

Think Han, not Lonely Agoraphobe. — John Corey Whaley

I love meeting readers and booksellers and am beyond overwhelmed and gratified at the reception. Each day feels like an adventure. — John Corey Whaley

But she believed there was a thin line between accepting one's fears and giving in to them altogether. — John Corey Whaley

He tried to help the world, but the world wouldn't let him. — John Corey Whaley

It was like looking at the sun and not going blind — John Corey Whaley

You have to forget about people when you can't have them anymore. That's the only way to be okay. — John Corey Whaley

I often found myself in situations where I had, without thinking, said too much to too many with too little caution. — John Corey Whaley

Life, he says, doesn't have to be so bad all the time. We don't have to be anxious about everything. We can just be. We can get up, anticipate that the day will probably have a few good moments and a few bad ones, and then just deal with it. Take it all in and deal as best we can. — John Corey Whaley

There are no boring places, only boring people, — John Corey Whaley

They say the heart is just a muscle. They say it plays absolutely no role in our emotions and that its use as a symbol for love is based on archaic theories of it being the seat of the soul or something ridiculous like that. But as I quietly listened to every word she was saying to me, as each syllable shot a sharp arrow through the phone and into my ear, I swear I felt like my entire chest would collapse in on itself. I knew this feeling. They say a heart can't really break because there's nothing to be broken. But see, I once had to leave everyone I loved, and it felt this same way. — John Corey Whaley

Cabot Searcy began to care about learning not for the sake of making good grades, but because he still wanted to change the world. — John Corey Whaley

His brother, he thinks, was in love with everyone he knew. — John Corey Whaley

My family and friends have been monumentally supportive from well before I was a published author. — John Corey Whaley

I'm completely obsessed with Andrew Smith's 'Winger.' A great, hilarious, and moving story. — John Corey Whaley

But, you see, it is not so much in the things we say to them about Christ, but more in the things we do for them that mirror the ways of Christ. — John Corey Whaley

He was an astronaut without a suit, but he was still breathing. — John Corey Whaley

It's a real shame. I like how people act on holidays. Everyone just seems ... I don't know
lighter, maybe. Like they're allowed to have fun all day long and eat anything they want and do silly things, and no one cares because, hey, it's a holiday, so why not? — John Corey Whaley

- Do they know? That you're gay?
- Why waste their time with it? It's not like it'll ever be an issue anyway.
- Yeah, but, it's who you are, right?
- I guess so, - he said. - I don't really know how to be any way else.
- When did you know?
- I was twelve, maybe. Something I just knew one day, even though I hadn't known it the day before.
- So it's like that, huh? A feeling? Not just being into other dudes?
- Oh no, it's that too. Of course it's that. But it's more, I think. Not so much a feeling as a fact, like having blue eyes or brown hair. It's just maybe something you don't discover until you're ready to understand it better.
- Like being straight, - she said. Only we don't have to deal with all that closet bullshit.
- Bingo, - he said. — John Corey Whaley

If I'm really under pressure to get work done, I can adapt to most situations, but I prefer to be at home, in a comfortable chair, with as few distractions as possible. — John Corey Whaley

Watch it,' her mom snapped. 'Don't start a fight just because it's the easiest thing to do. — John Corey Whaley

I can't seem to be a pessimist long enough to overlook the possibility of things being overwhelmingly good. — John Corey Whaley

Cullen?"
"Hey, Mom."
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked in that way that implied that saying no would cause someone to die. — John Corey Whaley

We all get lots of people. And maybe we don't always get to have them the exact way we want them, but if we can figure out a way to compromise, you know, then we can keep them all. — John Corey Whaley

You're like Lady Macbeth without the murder." "Thank you. You have no idea how much of a compliment that is to me. — John Corey Whaley

Dealing with chronic anxiety has taught me to better understand the nuances of mental illness and the very individual nature of it. — John Corey Whaley

That's how I knew I loved her so much, because not loving her didn't make any sense once I'd known what it felt like. — John Corey Whaley

You ever feel like you know someone so much that they can breathe for you? Like when their chest and your chest rise and fall, they do it together because they have to? That's how it felt. That's how it always felt. — John Corey Whaley

We all get people that help us make sense of the world, right? We just have to figure out how to keep them however we can. — John Corey Whaley

People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. — John Corey Whaley

I thought, 'What if I were 17, and it was my small town of Springhill, Louisiana? How would I feel if people started flooding in to see some bird?' — John Corey Whaley

No matter how evil man gets, he always gets a second chance one way or another. — John Corey Whaley

someone who wants to trust everyone so much that they don't see a lie when it's slapping them right in the face. — John Corey Whaley

Death can surprise us. It can scare us. It can keep us up at night. But we've also learned the things that death cannot do. It cannot crush our hopes. It cannot take away the love and support of our friends and family. — John Corey Whaley

As smart as I am, it took a boy stuck in his house to teach me that sometimes it doesn't matter where you are at all. It only matters whos with you. — John Corey Whaley

That's what we do sometimes. We let people disappear. We want them to. If everyone just stays quiet and out of the way, then the rest of us can pretend everything's fine. But everything is not fine. — John Corey Whaley

I regret waiting until my mid-twenties to really start seeing the world. I think I should have taken more risks when I was younger and worried less about being ready to grow up. — John Corey Whaley

Approaching my second novel was, admittedly, a bit of a struggle. But having an amazing team at Atheneum Books, especially my very patient, brilliant editor Namrata Tripathi, took a stressful situation and turned it into a really great learning experience for me. — John Corey Whaley

But in that moment I understood what they say about nostalgia, that no matter if you're thinking of something good or bad, it always leaves you a little emptier afterward. — John Corey Whaley

You know things are weird when you start appreciating your farts. — John Corey Whaley