Stories Are Light. Light Is Precious In

For Children: I'm Writing A Picture Book About The Big Dipper And A Novel About A Cricket, A Firefly And A Vole. For Grownups: I'm Writing Poems.

Minnesota Has Been So Good To Me And So Pleased That I Love Minnesota.

The Tiger Rising Is, Again, About A Motherless Child. His Name Is Rob Horton. He Is Dealing With The Death Of His Mother, When He And His Father Move To A New Town. And Two Things Happen The Same Day That Rob Gets Sent Home. One Is He Meets A Girl Named Sistine Bailey, Who Is What My Mother Would Call "a Piece Of Work," And He Finds A Real Tiger In A Cage In The Woods Behind The Motel Where He Lives With His Dad. And That's The Story: What Happens With The Sistine Tiger, The Real Tiger And Rob's Grief.

[our First Dinner With Alison Mcghee] Was At Figlio's [in Minneapolis]. I Know Exactly What I Had, Because It Was So Good: Their Three-cheese Ravioli. But I Can't Remember What I Said To Alison That Night That Made Her Laugh So Hard. But She Got Me Right Away And I Got Her Right Away.

The Tale Of Despereaux Is The Story Of An Unlikely Hero, A Mouse, Who Falls In Love With A Princess And Then Must Save Her. It's A Triumph Of The Human Spirit, Via A Mouse.