I'm Not Exactly Sure How Old The

Most Of My Books Begin With An Image Or A Voice - One Small Thing - And I Don't Know What It Is Going To Become.

When I Was A Kid I Loved To Read, But I Didn't Write And I Didn't Create Imaginary Worlds. So, If One Student Walks Away Thinking, "she's Obviously Just An Ordinary Person, Yet She Gets To Make Her Living Doing What She Wants To Do. Maybe That Applies To Me, Too," Then I Feel Like My Time Has Been Well Spent.

... Every Time You Look At The World And The People In It Closely, Lovingly, Imaginatively, It Changes You. The World, Under The Microscope Of Your Attention, Opens Up Like A Beautiful, Strange Flower And Gives Itself Back To You In Ways You Could Never Imagine.

There's A Notion Of Art In This Country That You Have To Be Nutty Or Special Or "called" In Order To Be An Artist. I Believe The Questions Everyone Should Ask Themselves Are, "do You Want To Do It? Are You Willing To Do It Poorly? Are You Willing To Do The Work Of Doing It? Are You Willing To Persist When Everybody Tells You It's Silly?" If You're Willing To Do That, Then You Can Do It.

I Read My Books Out Loud To Myself Because Of The Demands Of The Story And Demands Of Language.