Revision is the heart of writing. Every page I do is done over seven or eight times.

Outside of family, writing is essential. To me, it's like breathing.

Everything in my life affects my writing. There are no separate parts of my life.

I have no special talent, you know. I never took a writing course before I began to write.

I loved teaching. It was my world. I only left because I was overwhelmed with three careers - teaching, writing, and my family.

I want to see children curled up with books, finding an awareness of themselves as they discover other people's thoughts. I want them to make the connection that books are people's stories, that writing is talking on paper, and I want them to write their own stories. I'd like my books to provide that connection for them.