I had a general outline of subjects. The way I start my days is my husband brings me a thermos of coffee up to the bedroom.

It would look like a notebook with dividers, and there'd be different subjects and things [preschoolers] could do, so that they could feel like they were going to school also.

I [drinking coffee] for about an hour, I get dressed and go down in my studio, and that's a different kind of working.

It's one of my favorite times of day. I'll have an array of notes, things that I want to think about. Something will start to take shape, and I'll play around with it. It's not usually an intense time. It's sort of a playful time. But it's when some really good thoughts arise.

I don't want to make myself sound that spontaneous, because I'm not.

In some ways I'm very structured.

I started thinking about [ what book is going to go next] when I was working on As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth.