Mercy Watson is a pig. She lives with Mr. and Mrs. Watson, who are not pigs. I had that basic premise, but I couldn't make it work. I would come back to it, try it, see that I was failing, and put it aside.

Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope.

Alison [McGhee] and I have known each other since the summer of 2001. One evening we were sitting around talking about how we wished we had a good story to work on. Alison said: Why don't we work on a story together? I said: A story about what? And Alison said: A story about a short girl and a tall girl.

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

How will the world change if we do not question it?

I didn't know anything about writing a screenplay, but somehow I ended up rewriting a screenplay.

Love!' said the princess. She stamped her foot. 'Why must everyone always speak of love?