Allow Me To Congratulate You On Your

My Father Leaving The Family Shaped Who I Was And How I Looked At The World. By The Same Token, My Father Telling Me Fairy Tales That He Had Made Up Shaped Me Profoundly, Too.

It Is Always Just Telling A Story, Regardless Of The Age Of The Reader. Except, If I'm Writing Something For Kids, I Know There Has To Be Hope. I Don't Necessarily Feel That Responsibility For Adults, But I Emphatically Feel It For Children. That's The Only Difference. There's No Syntax Difference. There's No Semantics Difference. There's No Thematic Difference.

Despereaux Marveled At His Own Bravery. He Admired His Own Defiance. And Then, Reader, He Fainted.

Holly Mcghee Said I Should Come To Dinner With Them. That First Dinner, I Said Something Pretty Smart-alecky, And Alison [mcghee] Laughed Really Hard At It. It Made Me Happy.

But Let's Not Speak Of What Might Have Been. Let Us Speak Instead Of What Is. You Are Whole.