Sometimes, I'll hear from other writers or folks in the publishing industry that my books are rule-breakers, which I take as a compliment.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I'm writing, I am lost in my book. Except family and close friends, I don't care about what critics, publishers or readers might think.
I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don't agree with me as to their worth.
Personally I don't like it when writers become excessively proscriptive about the way that people read their books.
Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.
When I write a book, I write a book for myself; the reaction is up to the reader. It's not my business whether people like or dislike it.
When I was growing up, a lot of books affected me, but I never wrote letters to the author or anything like that. I'm always mindful that there are probably a whole bunch of people reading my books like that, too.
I don't write for publishers, certainly not for critics, and not for readers, But I am delighted that so many people have found my books enjoyable and want to continue to read them.
When you realize my best selling books are 'Owl Moon,' the 'How Do Dinosaur' books, and 'Devil's Arithmetic,' how can the public make sense of that! I have fans who think I only write picture books or only write SF and fantasy. I have fanatics of my poetry and are stunned to find out I write prose, too!
I work really hard at these books, and when colleagues write nasty reviews of them, I take it very personally.
The fact people think that when you sell a lot of books you are not a serious writer is a great insult to the readership. I get a little angry when people try to say such a thing.