Quote

I tried writing fiction as a little kid, but had a teacher humiliate me, so didn't write again until I was a senior in college.

I loved writing for kids, I loved talking to children about what I'd written, I don't want to leave that behind.

I never thought I was writing for kids at all. It really shocked and unsettled me to hear kids were buying the books. If I'd known I was writing for kids, I might actually have spelt things out a bit more, and that would probably have killed the appeal.

I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime.

One of the things that made me try writing novels was I could take time off to be with the kids. That's the practical side of what I love about the writing life.

I wrote as a kid, but I never wanted to be a writer, particularly. I had been drawing and painting for years and loved that.

The idea there were kids out there who didn't love to read and write just as much as I did struck me. So I went around schools and tried to make other kids love to read and write.

I was really into writing short fiction and also photography when I was a kid.

I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.

I wanted to become a writer. I enjoyed reading as a child.