I think when you've had success, publishers and reviewers and readers are willing to let you try something new if you've already proven yourself. They're excited about what you're doing, you have people interested in it, and actually waiting for it. It's empowering.

What's important is the preparation for adult life, and the training you'll receive in your Assignment.

The whole world had changed. Only the fairy tales remained the same. "And they lived happily ever after.

We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.

I don't know what she is now. A stranger, mostly. It's as if she has become a part of a different world, one that doesn't include me anymore.

So many of my books, I don't want to say they have messages, but they have important things to say.

I believe without a single shadow of a doubt that it is necessary for young people to learn to make choices. Learning to make right choices is the only way they will survive in an increasingly frightening world.