1. I do not like white chocolate but I love milk chocolate. I love dark chocolate even more than I love milk chocolate.

2. I would like to learn to play the harp, jump out of a plane (with a parachute), go parasailing, write 30 more children’s books and visit Santa on one of his days off. I plan to do these things before I am 80. As I only have 30 years to achieve these goals I guess I should get a move on.

3. I belong to a group of women writers. We are called the Lazy River Writers but we are not lazy. We meet once a month to talk about and workshop our writing. We also go on retreats, eat lots of chocolate and just have fun. All of these things are good.

4. My non-writing friends tell me I think about things too deeply, ask too many questions and I am overly sensitive. I tell them I am a writer so what do they expect.

5. I do not like comparing myself to other children’s writers because most of them write much faster than me. Sometimes it takes me all day just to get one word on the page. This is not good if you have deadlines to meet.

6. When people ask me why I like to write I tell them I don’t (because I am so slow). Then they ask me why I write if I don’t like it. I tell them I like challenges.

7. When people ask me where I get my ideas about what to write I tell them they’re just there when I wake up. Sometimes I wish my ideas would go away and let me have a sleep in.

8. When people ask me what makes a good writer I tell them I don’t know. When they look surprised, I say there are lots of books to read and courses to go to that might answer their question.