“When I was a kid, I adored books featuring ‘everyday’ magic, the type of magic that seemed within reach. It wasn't likely I would find myself in Middle Earth, but it maybe I could find a magic ring. Time Spies is a Valentine to the books of Edward Eager, Jane Langton, and E. Nesbit.”

—on the TIME SPIES series (CB)

“Vlad Dracul is really just my old high school transmuted into a series of palaces. It really did have a student center and dormitories, and was a K-12 operation.”

—on VAMPIRE HIGH (YA)

“I don’t remember the exact comment, but it was historically anachronistic. Or maybe it was hysterical fiction.”

— on THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KALEY (MG)

"In the dozen years since PRINCESS NEVERMORE was published, I've received piles of letters and emails from readers asking for a sequel (and a movie, but that's a whole other interview...). I admit that I left the reader hanging at the end of Princess Nevermore. I'd always intended to continue the story, but I never meant to wait so long."

—on PRINCESS NEVERMORE
and CAM'S QUEST (YA)

“The truth is that three girls who are the same age, who are growing up in the same town, who go to the same school, and who spend all their time together are going to sound alike, and there's nothing I can do about that.”

— on HARMLESS (YA)

"While I was writing the book, I imagined my students as my audience. It helped me get the pace and the tone right. I knew middle school kids well. I knew what they found exciting and funny, and what they found boring."

—on THE LIGHTNING THIEF (MG)

"I was pregnant with a book! I couldn't wait to cradle it in my hands and show its jaunty little jacket cover to the world. Little did I know that my editor would produce two healthy human babies before my book would land on library shelves."

— on COME TO MY PARTY (PB)

“When I created Dane (my main character), I wanted to form a character who was initially not at all user-friendly. I believe that an early reader referred to him as an "anti-hero," which is about right. He's one of those individuals who is smart and skilled at almost anything he tries, but he's lacking a certain humanity, especially in terms of empathy for other people (or for himself, for that matter). Yet he's very dynamic and draws people to him, even though he doesn't really treat them very well.”

—on THAW (YA)

"When I saw the actual flag at the Museum of Tolerance, I was deeply moved. To think that former prisoners at Mauthausen, one of the worse of the concentration camps, had the spirit and drive to create this gift for their liberators despite their weakened and miserable condition. This was a testament to the dignity and humanity of people."

—on THE FLAG WITH FIFTY-SIX STARS (PB)

"I just wanted to work on something completely different, something fun and quite possibly mysterious and magical."

— on LILY'S GHOSTS (MG)

See also: Laura Ruby on Challenges to LILY'S GHOSTS

"I wondered what would happen if a compromising photo of a nice, normal teenaged girl was sent via email accounts and camera phones. How would everyone react? And what would a 'good' girl do?"

—on GOOD GIRLS (YA)

“The characters in my story were named after my real brothers and sisters. My sisters cried when they heard the inspiration for the story because they remembered.”

— on LUPITA’S PAPALOTE (PB)

"After I wrote EMPRESS OF THE WORLD, I knew that Battle Hall Davies—who's the love interest in Empress—needed her own voice. In Empress, we only see her through her girlfriend Nicola Lancaster's eyes—beautiful, compelling, ultimately inexplicable. But of course, that's not how Battle sees herself."

—on THE RULES FOR HEARTS (YA)