Life Is Hard. Life Is Beautiful. Life

But Still, Here Are The Words Despereaux Tilling Spoke To His Father. He Said, "i Forgive You, Pa!" And He Said Those Words Because He Sensed That It Was The Only Way To Save His Heart, To Stop It From Breaking In Two. Despereaux, Reader, Spoke Those Words To Save Himself.

There Ain't No Point In Making Soup Unless Others Eat It. Soup Needs Another Mouth To Taste It, Another Heart To Be Warmed By It.

I Was Visiting My Mother In Florida When The September 11, 2001 Attacks Happened. I Was Working On The Tale Of Despereaux At That Point. I Had Already Gone Into Writing It With A Great Deal Of Trepidation And Fear, And Then This God-awful Thing Happens And It Was Really Hard To Even Get Back Home To Minneapolis.

Normally, Edward Would Have Found Intrusive, Clingy Behavior Of This Sort Very Annoying, But There Was Something About Sarah Ruth. He Wanted To Take Care Of Her. He Wanted To Protect Her. He Wanted To Do More For Her. (page 135)

I Always Wanted To Be A Character, When I Worked At Disney, But I Wasn't Short Enough For Certain Characters And I Wasn't Tall Enough For Others. I Wanted To Be A Chipmunk; I Think 4'10" Was The Cutoff.