Why don’t you make a movie of the Poppy books?
While I would enjoy having a movie made of the Poppy books, I can’t do it. I am a writer, not a film maker. Film making is a skill that’s very different than writing. It also takes a whole lot of money, and many people. One of the things I like about writing, is that I can do it alone, and it doesn’t cost much.
How do you find so much detail in the books you write?
I do a great deal of research for my books. For the most part that means I read a lot about the place and history where and when my story takes place. Sometimes it means going somewhere to do research. I did that for the Crispin books when I traveled both to England and France. Sometimes I visit museums (True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle). Sometimes it comes out of my own experience, such as when I had a photographic darkroom. That helped me write Seer of Shadows. It can even happen that I lived in a house where a story takes place, as in Something Upstairs.
What’s the hardest part of being a writer?
Writing is hard for everyone. And I mean everyone. That certainly includes me. And the hardest part of writing is making what you write–which is hard to begin with–really good.