Mercy Watson is obsessed with toast. What was blocking me was the challenge of trying to understand what she loves, what motivates her. That was the missing piece. Toast became the physical symbol of Mercy's hopefully endearing greed and obsession. Without that element in place, it didn't make sense.

There can be a lot of longevity in the repetition of things being told again and again in a variety of ways.

It is our duty and our joy to communicate our hearts to each other. Words assist us in this task.

Magic is always impossible.... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic.

I like to think of myself as a storyteller.

It distresses me that parents insist that their children read or make them read. I think the best way for children to treasure reading is for them to see the adults in their lives reading for their own pleasure.

Fairy tales dont tell you that dragons are real, but that they can be defeated!