James McBride Quotes

'Ugly Betty' has opened my eyes to the world of fashion journalism - I'm looking forward to going to college for that. Until then, I don't know. Will I appear on 'Glee?'

My essential identity is that of a writer.

Well, I still write poetry, but I wouldn't call myself a poet.

I tried writing adult romances, but it just didn't fit my voice.

When I went in, my editor said, 'I hope you don't think you're a writer.' And I said, 'I hope you don't think I'm a journalist.' And, uh, turned out we were both right.

I shoot for 'Extra' three times a week, and that's great for Las Vegas, too. In addition to interviewing stars who are here for shows, parties and premieres, I'll also get peoples' reactions to different news items and topical gossip.

We began our 'Luxe Life' and 'Vegas DeLuxe daily columns' not long after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and we've spent a decade bringing you showbiz stories and star scoops. I hope it continues for a long time to come because I honestly feel that all the late nights and around-the-clock hours to be first and fast keep me young.

I'm not a pundit. I don't want to be a pundit.

A writer is defined by the language in which he writes, and I would stick to that definition.

I consider myself a writer, foremost - a nonfiction writer.

I don't have a clear biography of my own that I could recount in an interesting way. I'm made up of the characters that I pulled out of my head, that I invented.

Whether it's standing backstage with Jennifer Lopez in a dress that I know everyone will be talking about tomorrow... or being there when incredible news breaks, and instead where people sit in front of their TVs and look at it, I'm the person who goes there to bring you the story... It's amazing. It's unbelievable.

If you believe you're a poet, then you're saved.

I've never seen myself as an artist. So when that happened it was like a whole other crazy thing.

I've come to think of myself as a writer of books.

I've never not been sure that I was a photographer any more than you would not be sure you were yourself. I was a photographer, or wanting to be a photographer, or beginning - but some phase of photographer I've always been.

I've only ever been mistaken for myself. People draw a lot of comparisons to all of the round-faced, mustached men of entertainment that make me cringe and sick to my stomach about how the world really sees me and they're right.

I realized that my identity as a novelist was private. Only I knew how much of a novelist I was!

... when I finish reading People, I always feel that I have just spent four days in Los Angeles. Women's Wear Daily at least makes me feel dirty; People makes me feel that I haven't read or learned or seen anything at all.

I was once doing a question and answer period with the novelist Jane Smiley in a bookstore and someone asked us what our processes were and Jane said hers and then I said mine and Jane said, "Well, if I had a student like that I'd force him never to write like that again because you could never write a novel in the way that you write poetry."

[E]very time you think the entertainment moguls have hit rock bottom, they reach for the jackhammer and rat-a-tat-tat a little deeper.

I am an artist and a writer, and I do think that one always places oneself in the picture to see where one fits.

I've always believed that thoughtful people don't really take the tabloids seriously. They're basically a form of entertainment. I enjoy them as much as the next New Yorker.

If I were to write anything at all, it would turn out to be nothing but talk about movies. In other words, take 'myself,' subtract 'movies,' and the result is 'zero.'

A newspaper has three things to do. One is to amuse, another is to entertain and the rest is to mislead.