What made you decide to become a writer?
I often wrote poems for friends and family, and even wrote skits for high school pep rallies. Once, I wrote a play called Mothers and Others. It was produced at a local church. After high school, I began freelancing while working a "real" job.
I considered writing a hobby, not a career, then two things happened to make me "get serious" about writing. First, the editor of a local magazine asked me to write a children's Christmas story. I liked the idea of getting paid for doing something I loved to do.
Second, I attended my first writers' conference. After listening to authors talk about their writing careers, I came home and enrolled in college at the University of Colorado. I'd decided it was time for me to take literature courses and "learn my craft."
After teaching elementary school in Denver for two years, I launched my career as a full-time author, writing GAME OF SURVIVAL and I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER. Several years passed before those first two books were published by Avon. (Click on the Young Adult Novel link to see them.)
Where do you get your ideas?
I think ideas buzz about in the air like tiny mosquitoes. Many "land" on you and get brushed aside. But it's the ones that take a "bite" out of you, the ones that really get into your blood that make you the most passionate about writing.
Ideas come at all times of the day or night. I might overhear an interesting phrase, or dream up a title, then invent a premise. These books all started with nothing more than titles: THE KISSING CONTEST, LIVER COOKIES, MY ZOMBIE VALENTINE, THE VAMPIRE WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS, MONSTER OF THE MONTH CLUB, FANGS-GIVING, and HOME FOR THE HOWL-IDAYS. (Click on the Middle Grade Novel link.)
The last two, FANGS-GIVING and HOME FOR THE HOWL-IDAY, were ideas pitched to me by Scholastic. An idea I had many years ago slowly developed as a novel. Since I love fantasy and science fiction, and was greatly influenced by The Chronicles of Narnia and The Prydain Chronicles, I wanted to create my own fantasy world. The resulting books are PRINCESS NEVERMORE and CAM'S QUEST. (Click on the Princess Nevermore link.)
I also like to invent "impossible" situations, like . . . what if Joey Ocean is sitting in his 6th grade math class when a new girl arrives? Not only does she have a strange name (Xia Dedd) but there's something weird about the way she walks and the way she never speaks, yet she can read Joey's mind. Are the rumors true? Is she really a zombie? That idea was sparked from the title MY ZOMBIE VALENTINE.
How many books have you written?
"Written" and "Published" are two entirely different matters. I've published over 50 books. I've written double that amount.
What are your favorite books and/or authors?
I grew up reading the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, and The Bobbsey Twins, then started reading adult novels at thirteen. Today, my favorite books come from the fantasy genre. Lloyd Alexander is my favorite author.
Which one of your books is your favorite?
Tough question. All of them are special for different reasons.
Is it true you have over 100 walruses in your office, and a walrus is buried somewhere in almost every one of your books?
Absolutely! For a preview, go take a dip in the Walrus Pond. 
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