I like to have a simple workplace.

My goal in the classroom was always to make sure they were having so much fun that they didn't realize they were learning.

I always love it when I hear back from kids who say they discovered Percy Jackson and now wear their learning difference as a badge of honour.

Even if these stories are 3,000 years old, there's still so much about the characters, about the dilemmas, about their understanding of the universe that still resonates. The whole idea of order and chaos, which is really central to the ancient Egyptian understanding of the world, is still very much with us.

You wake up in the morning; what do you want to know? You want to know what happened overnight. You want to know if you're safe. You want to know if you're family's safe.

There might be the odd person in my family who was an artist down the line, but no one in my immediate family is an actor of any kind.

In the world of the American creative writing workshop, I've encountered teachers who are tempted to place, or have actually placed, a moratorium on child narrators. Students love to write them, but children come laden with complications.

I'm an extremely busy woman but I still make time for myself and my family. You can do both, and do both well, if you really want to.