I Kept A Diary As A Teenager

Determination And Hard Work Are As Important As Talent.

My Characters Live Inside My Head For A Long Time Before I Actually Start A Book. They Become So Real To Me, I Talk About Them At The Dinner Table As If They Are Real. Some People Consider This Weird. But My Family Understands.

I Thought [books Ban] Was Crazy. Really My Thoughts Were "this Is America, We Don't Do This Here" But Of Course I Know A Lot Better Now. And I Wasn't The Only One. Norma Klein Was Writing At The Same Time. Her Books Were Going. So Many Of Us. When You Say To Me, No You Can't Do This I Say, Oh Yes I Can.

Ideas Seem To Come From Everywhere - My Life, Everything I See, Hear, And Read, And Most Of All, From My Imagination. I Have A Lot Of Imagination.

When [books Ban] Happened, I Felt Completely Alone And That Was Scary And Sad.