To me, family is everything. I want children to realize how important their families are and what a support system a family is.

The reasons kids get into trouble in one way or another is because - Who ever told them they were special?

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.

Everything in my life affects my writing. There are no separate parts of my life.

Sometimes when I visit schools, kids will interview me for the school newspaper. They ask me questions and my answers tend to go on and on, and they try to write down everything I'm saying as quickly as they can. And one day, a kid holds up her hand and said, 'Do you think you could just answer 'yes' or 'no?' Aren't kids wonderful?

What inspired me to become an author? I think it was the snow in New York. I looked out the window and I said, 'Well, I have to get dressed every morning to go to teach, but if I write a book, I can stay home in my bathrobe, eat candy corn.'