Thus, in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography, but I have to turn it into fiction in order to give it credibility.

Hope ... is not a feeling; it is something you do.

Many people are angry when they make a mistake, but very few people have the sense to be sorry.

I'm sure my first nine years have had a powerful influence on the kind of books I write.

It's such a thrill when an adult comes up to me and says, 'I read your book as a child and really loved it.' That's a tremendous compliment.

Nothing smelled so good or danced so well as a birch fire.

The thing I have learned through the years is that one idea 'doth' not a novel make. A novel must be several seemingly unrelated ideas that somehow magically come together to create the fabric of the story.