I don't like to read things that people write about me. I'd rather read what kids have to say about me because it's not their profession to do that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I usually don't read things written about me and I certainly don't read things if they are inappropriate.
I mean, I don't write for kids.
If you read in front of your kids, it's very likely that they'll become readers, too.
I'd read things, like people criticizing me. But no one likes to read stuff about that, and probably the main thing that was getting to me was me mum's illness.
In all honesty, I didn't love reading when I was a kid. I'd rather be running around in the woods or doing my best to scare the pants off all the children in the neighborhood by pretending my house was haunted or making them play Bloody Mary in the bathroom.
I have a lot of teenage readers and readers in their early twenties. My writing style appeals to them. And if they look at my picture on the back of the book, they don't see someone who looks like their mother.
Even though I don't write about things that come from my life because I'm lucky, and I live in a great place with great kids and, you know, a great husband, I think you can find threads of me in the characters, so that's really what being a writer is, probably.
I've seen a range of children's personalities, so it's easier to write about them without patronising them, I think.
I loved writing for kids, I loved talking to children about what I'd written, I don't want to leave that behind.
Now I don't really write for adults or kids - I don't write for kids, I write about them. I think you need to do that, otherwise you end up preaching down.