I couldn't speak well. I went to speech therapy for 10 years. And I was sort of frustrated in that sense.

Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?

America believes what's good for us is good for the world. It's very difficult to understand that that's not necessarily true.

As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.

What some people wanted was sometimes too hard to get, and the stress of trying was sometimes too hard to deal with... Maybe doing well in life was just too hard for some people.

It's a hard life sometimes and the biggest temptation is to let how hard it is be an excuse to weaken

I had seen the ballet of Swan Lake as a child but it was as an adult, when I saw a production featuring Erik Bruhn, that I first noticed how significant a part the ever-present threat of violence played. This juxtaposition of great beauty and grace with a backdrop of pure evil stayed with me for years.