And Hope Is Like Love...a Ridiculous, Wonderful,

I Think For Everybody Reading Can Be A Solace, Illumination, Education.

I Think Of Mercy Watson Like A Superball; There's A Bouncy Kind Of Optimism To Her Stories. She Allows Me To Play, And She Makes Me Laugh. Hopefully Readers Feel The Same Way.

There Ain't No Way You Can Hold Onto Something That Wants To Go, You Understand? You Can Only Love What You Got While You Got It.

I Have Done Quite A Few Signings At Bookstores, Libraries And Conferences. I Have Received Phone Calls And Letters From People Who Liked The Book.

The Words, "i Have A Dog Named Winn-dixie," Popped Into My Head In The Voice Of A Small Girl With A Southern Accent. I'd Been Writing Long Enough At That Point To Know Not To Ignore That Kind Of Red Flag. The Next Day, I Put Aside What I'd Been Working On, Started With That One Sentence, And Followed It All The Way To The End.