Our rule was that we [with Kate DiCamillo] would write everything together, literally every word.

Water seeks its own level. Look at them. The Tigris, the Euphrates, the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Yangtze. The world's great rivers. And every one of them finds its way to the ocean.

I like to write in all different genres. I just like a new challenge.

We had dinner at Figlio's, which has turned into a restaurant called Il Gato. I'm 99% positive I had Joe's Eggs. I know every time I went there, and I loved it, I ordered Joe's Eggs. Kate [DiCamillo] probably had a pizza, because she loves pizza.

Our rule was that we [with Kate DiCamillo] would write everything together, literally every word.

So we [with Kate DiCamillo] would act them out, we would toss ideas back and forth, we would laugh, we would argue. Sometimes it went really well, sometimes it was such a pain in the ass. Our other rule was that we wouldn't work on it at all when we weren't in the other's presence. It was really hard not to do that. We'd start going on email back and forth, 'What do you think about this, what do you think about that?' But, no, no, no, it had to be live. So we forced ourselves not to look at it except during those two-hour stretches when we were actually with each other.

We had so much fun together as friends that I suggested we [with Kate DiCamillo] write a book together.