I always hope that the artwork will complement and enrich a story.

I believe young children in particular enjoy witnessing the survival of youthful protagonists against terrible odds. I think it's gratifying to the reader when you give young characters that kind of agency.

I believe actual violence scars children much more than violence in storybooks.

I'd hasten to say that the prejudice in Dust City isn't completely analogous to racism in the real world.

People of different ethnicities are definitely not of differing species. Biologically speaking, people are people.

In medieval Europe, childbirth was a leading cause of death. So widowed fathers with children were quite common, meaning stepmothers were equally common.

I think a lot of things are at play when children enjoy a grisly old fairytale. I don't think many children take it literally, or rather it's quite clear to them that it's only a story, only make believe.