How and when did you start writing?

I started writing when I was very young—just for myself. I wrote poetry, plays, and lots of letters. I didn't start getting published until I began working for the newspaper as a cartoonist. Sometimes they let me write a story or a column.

How long have you been illustrating picture books?

I started writing picture books when I stopped doing political cartoons in about 1989.

How do you get ideas for your books?

I get ideas from lots of places. Anything that interests you can be the start of an idea. Just ask yourself "what if?" and your story can build from there.

Is writing and illustrating books fun?

It's lots of fun for me. I don't like to do anything that isn't fun. You may have fun doing something different, and that's okay. It's just that for me, writing and drawing come easy—almost like play—so that's what I like to do.

What kind of art materials do you use when illustrating books?

I use lots of things. Some cartoonists use old toothpicks dipped in ink! I draw the rough sketch on a cheap sheet of paper, so I can erase. Then I put the sketch on a light table. (That's a box with two florescent tube light bulbs under a frosted piece of Plexiglass.) I put the original drawing on the Plexiglass, and when I turn the lights on, I can see my sketch through the hot-pressed watercolor paper that I use for the good drawings. I clean up the drawing using very light lines and then I color my pictures after the sketches are transferred with Prismacolor colored pencils. Sometimes I use watercolor or acrylic paint, or a mixture of materials.

Did you ever or do you now play sports?

My children, my husband, my brother and my sisters, and my mother (when she was young) are very athletic, but I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I used to run, though. I could run for hours. Just not very fast.

Do you have any pets?

We have two dogs, a hound-dog named Newberry and our daughter's part-labrador-retriever, Kayla. We're keeping Kayla until our daughter gets a place big enough to keep her. Kayla does everything Newberry wants her to do.

What was your first book that you wrote?

I think the first book I wrote was The Pink House, but I keep finding these old, old poems I wrote and forgot about. I may turn one or more of them into picture books.

Is it hard to be a writer or an illustrator?

Being a writer and an illustrator is easy for me. It's lots of work, but I love to do the work, so it isn't hard. Some things that are easy for other people to do that would be hard for me!

What is your favorite book that you have written and/or illustrated?

It would be hard to choose among the books I have written and illustrated to find a favorite. I like them all for different reasons, and there are some things about each one that I would change if I had the chance.

Who are some of your favorite children's authors or illustrators?

Among my favorite children's authors would have to be Cynthia Rylant. She wrote When the Relatives Came and some other books I really like. Margaret Wise Brown is another of my favorites. She wrote wonderful books like Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.

How many books have you written?

Counting the books I've illustrated for other authors, there are more than 25. Counting only the ones I wrote and illustrated—that have been published—there are four so far. I have another book called Don't Slam the Door that hasn't been published yet.

Is it hard to get a picture book published?

It is very hard to get a picture book published these days. So very many more people are doing them now. Most big publishers are using only the authors they know. It's hard to get a publisher to even look at a manuscript. There are some smaller publishers who are not so strict. When a story is rejected by one publisher, a writer should send the same story to another, and another, and another. You should not give up, even if you get rejected many times. A Wrinkle in Time collected more than 45 rejections before it was published, and that author had an agent to help her sell it! Dr. Seuss's first book was rejected 75 times, and he lives in New York, where writers can go to see editors in person. New authors, and those who don't live near New York City, are at a disadvantage.

What is your favorite book that you didn't write?

It is very hard to choose. Right now, I'm reading books about football and politics. I enjoyed John Madden's One Knee Equals Two Feet and Al Franken's Why Not Me? I loved To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Catcher in the Rye by John Salinger, but I also loved The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Archie and Mehitabel by Don Marquis is a continuing favorite of mine, along with Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. The Witch of Blackbird Pond was good, too (very romantic!).

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Along with those I've already mentioned, I live Molly Ivins, David Maraniss (he writes biographies), and a number of other journalists. I read John Grisham's books for fun, as well as Laurence Shame's books about Key West. I like books that make me laugh, books that make me think, books that have some mystery to them (like Agatha Christie's books). I like books that tell me things I didn't know (like Thor Heyerdahl's sea adventure books).

If I get bored by a book in the first several pages, I don't read it. I just start another one.

Hope this answers your questions!