Most writers adore their editors, and I'm no exception.

You burn the paper, but not the words. You silence the words, but not the thoughts. You kill the thoughts only if you kill the man. And you will find that his thoughts rise again in the minds of others - twice as strong as before.

I can give advice to anyone interested in writing in one word: Read! I think it's much more important to be a reader than to be a writer!

My first publication was a haiku in a children's magazine when I was 9 years old. I received one dollar for it! I gave the check to my dad for Christmas, and he framed it and hung it over his desk.

I used to sit home with my computer and write. After the Newbery, I probably spend more than half my time on the road.

A mistake made with good in your heart is still a mistake, but it is one for which you must forgive yourself.

If a man is keeping an idea to himself, and that idea is taken by stealth or trickery-I say it is stealing. But once a man has revealed his idea to others, it is no longer his alone. It belongs to the world.