The way we started was, Alison [McGhee] said, 'Tall girl, short girl.' We had no plans beyond that.

I feel like I've been blessed. I see the world through stories.

It is always just telling a story, regardless of the age of the reader. Except, if I'm writing something for kids, I know there has to be hope. I don't necessarily feel that responsibility for adults, but I emphatically feel it for children. That's the only difference. There's no syntax difference. There's no semantics difference. There's no thematic difference.

We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?

Everything when I was a kid was illustrated.

We were 15 minutes into it and nothing was happening; I thought, well, that's not going to work. Then all of a sudden everything clicked. I don't know how long it took us, but I would just show up at Alison's [McGhee] office. She would type and we'd just kick it back and forth. Writing is so scary for me, such a lonely endeavor, and it became a wonderful thing to show up and have somebody else go through it with me. It was actually a wonderful experience.

Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart. (Old Doll)