I wondered about Mrs. Winterbottom and what she meant about living a tiny life. If she didn't like all that baking and cleaning and jumping up to get bottles of nail polish remover and sewing hems, why did she do it? Why didn't she tell them to do some of the things themselves? Maybe she was afraid there would be nothing left for her to do. There would be no need for her and she would become invisible and no one would notice.

I am drawn to the ways in which we are shaped by people and by place.

I prayed to trees. This was easier than praying directly to God. There was nearly always a tree nearby.

The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.

A person isn't a bird. You can't cage a person.

how can you love a little cat so much in such a short short time?

I cannot just write a frivolous book, a la-di-da book. Everything isn't la-di-da. There is something that's going to pull you up short. I want to reassure young readers. I want to comfort them, to not fear the unexpected.