If you have a friend, things are better than if you didn't have a friend.

I want to see children curled up with books, finding an awareness of themselves as they discover other people's thoughts. I want them to make the connection that books are people's stories, that writing is talking on paper, and I want them to write their own stories. I'd like my books to provide that connection for them.

If you have a friend, things are better than if you didn't have a friend.

I loved teaching. It was my world. I only left because I was overwhelmed with three careers - teaching, writing, and my family.

Revision is the heart of writing. Every page I do is done over seven or eight times.

Outside of family, writing is essential. To me, it's like breathing.

I cannot outline. I do not know what the next thing is going to happen in the book until it comes out of my fingers.