You don't realize what you're going to get, and you can't prepare yourself for it.

When it is my editor telling me how to rewrite a story, I listen and do what she asks because I have learned that I get a better book in the end. I can't say I'm happy when I read that editorial letter. It is always a little painful and scary. But I have learned that - bit by bit - I can make the changes and do the work.

The Tale of Despereaux came at the request of Luke, my friend's then-eight-year-old son, who asked, "Write for me the story of an unlikely hero with exceptionally large ears."

Did you think that rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart. And the heart of any living thing can be broken.

I am really an introvert, and I need that time alone for a variety of reasons.

So many miracles have not yet happened.

Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.