The year has held its ups and downs for me I'm sure it has for you, too. I'm counting on the year ending on a note of joy (and gingerbread!) and look forward to a new year brimming with promise and peace.

Isn't it fascinating how long a few minutes seem when you are completely alone with not a familiar face in sight?

Character is everything, especially these days when that's what publishers are asking for. Make sure that yours have child appeal. Also don't have a huge cast of characters. One or two is best, four, the maximum.

The worst thing of all is standing by when folks are doing something wrong.

I think if you find your passion and you go with it you are rewarded.

Our actions make the fragrance of our lives...Would you smell of plums? Or Vinegar?

[Rejection] made me quit writing once. For six months. I started up again when my then seven-year-old son asked me to start writing again because I was too grumpy when I wasn't writing.

Hon, when someone's a true friend, there's no need to miss 'em. She patted her chest. 'Cause they're always right here.

There should be fireworks at last, when a dream dies.

I gotta pound the keys for the ideas to flow.

I've always been a bookworm. As I mentioned, I moved around a lot, and one of the problems with being the new kid is it takes a while to make new friends. But I always had my books.

I will have to rely on that painful teacher, experience.

I am the richest person alive (or at least one of!) because I get to do what I love as a career.

There is nothing like the occasional outburst of profanity to calm jangled nerves.

My bounce-around life had taught me that dreams were dangerous things - they look solid in your mind, but you just try to reach for them. It's like gathering clouds.

Hattie.' Grace patted my arm. 'My cows sing better than you do.

I have an office in my house, with a comfy red print reading chair and a soft cream-colored desk. After I walk Winston the Wonder dog and have my breakfast, I head to my office. Every single day. Sometimes, when I'm working on revisions, I print off my manuscript and go to a coffee shop to work. But mostly you can find me in my office.

It's the company, not the cooking, that makes a meal.