I think my books talk about kids learning to like and respect themselves and each other. You can't write a message book; you just tell the best story you know how to tell

I wish I had had my books when I was a kid, I do

I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them

Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth.

Mistakes are growth, and we learn not to do it again. But it doesn't make you a terrible person. That's important to me.

I deal with unhappy marriages a lot. I've never been married, I'm single

I want to keep meeting new people, enlarging my circle of friends. I have great friends now... really good people. But I'm always ready for what comes next