I'm structured with time.

If I could make a career out of drawing little girls hiding in corners, I would do really well.

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.

I remember when I was working on All Alone in the Universe, and Robin Roy was my editor. When I first sent it to her, she said kids this age don't want pictures in their books.

I don't think about it that much, but sometimes I am surprised by that. I sometimes wonder why I didn't turn out to be the kind of picture-book writer who has stuffed animals that go with their books. That would be okay with me.

I creep over to my chair and sit there with my notebook and my thermos of coffee. It's my best time for thinking, because I haven't started thinking about anything else yet, and the thoughts can kind of go in and out of my head.

I love that when you're writing your mind is sort of figuring things out on its own, without you directing it.