Where do you live?
I live in Denver, Colorado. We also have a log cabin high in the Rocky Mountains in a place called Columbine.
Have you ever written a ghost story?
Quite a few: Something Upstairs, Devil’s Race, Seer of Shadows, Book Without Words, Midnight Magic, What Do Fish Have To Do With Anything?
For more info check web-site for each title.
What is your favorite food?
COOKIES!!!!
Are you going to publish another book? If so When?
My next book will be Part Three of the Crispin series. It’s called Crispin The End of Time. You can read the first chapter by going to the “What’s New” section on my web site.
Why did you write The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle?
As with all my books my only desire is to write a good story.
When did you start writing books for children?
I began to write books for young people when I had kids of my own. I was thirty years old. The first book, Things That Sometimes Happen, was published in 1970
Do you have a desk? Is your desk comfy?
I do have a desk in my small, cluttered offiice. There are lots of books and papers. My desk is the same. I should clean it all up!
What books do you like to read?
I read all kinds of books. Mostly, I read chapter books and novels, plus a lot of history books. I spend a lot of time doing research (
Will there be another Poppy book?
The last Poppy book, Poppy and Ereth, was just published. For more information go to What’s New on the homepage.
Rewrite! No one ever writes anything well the first time. The first draft cannot be the last draft. (I rewrite my work fifty-sixty times—or more). Here’s a tip: read your first draft, and if you think it’s good, you are in trouble. But, if you read it and you see it’s not that good, you are in great shape—to get going. The more you rewrite the better your writing will be.
Write for readers. Maybe you understand what you have written, but the writer’s job is to have the reader understand it. Keep in mind: writers don’t write writing, they write reading.
Listen. Read your work out loud (pencil in hand) and it will let you hear your own writing. It will almost improve itself.