I've never turned into a bee - I've never been chased by a mummy or met a ghost. But many of the ideas in my books are suggested by real life.

Well, when I was 13, for my bar mitzvah I received my first typewriter. And that was special.

I'm obsessed with radio. It's a good start to Sunday morning.

A real New Yorker likes the sound of a garbage truck in the morning.

I do like a lot of things that a lot of adults would scoff at. 'SpongeBob SquarePants,' 'Looney Tunes.'

I've lived in New York for 40 years. I came right after college.

You have no control [over natural disaster]. That's what's scary about it. You're helpless. That feeling of helplessness is really scary.