One, We [with Alison Mcghee] Laugh A

What Was It Like...to Have Someone Who Knew You Would Always Return And Who Welcomed You With Open Arms?

The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane Began With A Friend Giving Me A Rabbit Doll - Forgive Me, Edward, For Using That Word; He Doesn't Like "doll" - For Christmas. I Said, "oh, He's Lovely, What's His Name?" And She Said, "edward." And A Few Days After I Received The Rabbit, Who Was Dressed Very Handsomely In Edwardian Kind Of Clothes, I Saw Him Stripped Of His Finery And Face Down On The Bottom Of The Ocean Floor. Why? I Don't Know. But That's Where His Story Began In My Head.

I Don't Know What Alison [mcghee] Thinks, But I Very Strongly Doubt That We Will Ever See The Parents Of Bink Or Gollie. However, I Do Think It Would Be Fun To Make Tony Fucile Draw Portraits Of The Parental Units And Have Those Portraits Sitting On Bink's Mantel Or In Gollie's Kitchen. Glowering. A Little.

So Here I Am, Sending A Two-ounce Mouse Down Into A Dungeon With A Sewing Needle To Save A Human Princess, And I Don't Know How In The World He's Going To Do It. I Have No Idea. That Was The First Time It Occurred To Me That Writing The Story Was Roughly Equivalent To Despereaux's Descent Into The Dungeon. I Was Tremendously Aware Of That As I Was Writing. I Thought, "i Have To Be Brave Or Else I'm Not Going To Be Able To Tell It." But It's The Only Way That I Can Write. If I Know What's Going To Happen, I'm Not Interested In Telling The Story.

Don't Drop Him," Said Peter's Mother To His Father. "don't You Dare Drop Him." She Was Laughing. "i Will Not," Said His Father. "i Could Not." For He Is Peter Augustus Duchene, And He Will Always Return To Me. Again And Again, Peter's Father Threw Him Up In The Air. Again And Again, Peter Felt Himself Suspended In Nothingness For A Moment, Just A Moment, And Then He Was Pulled Back, Returned To The Sweetness Of The Earth And The Warmth Of His Father's Waiting Arms. "see?" Said His Father To His Mother. "do You See How He Always Comes Back To Me?