If you have no intention of loving or being loved, the whole journey is pointless.

I need to write, and I can't write when I'm on the road.

If I am just home and writing, I become very strange.

I didn't know at the time I was writing Because of Winn-Dixie where the story came from, but in retrospect I can see that it was a response to a terribly harsh winter here in Minnesota.

The Watsons have lost sight of the fact that Mercy Watson is a pig, and they love her truly, madly, deeply. They live next door to two elderly sisters, Eugenia Lincoln and Baby Lincoln. Eugenia Lincoln is horrified that a pig is living in the house next door. Baby Lincoln secretly likes Mercy a great deal.

It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.

Going out and not only meeting the kids, but meeting the teachers and the librarians and seeing the world, fills me up.