When I Grow Up...

...I want to write like Kate DiCamillo, author of

• The Tiger Rising
• Because of Winn Dixie
• The Magician's Elephant
• The Tale of Despereaux
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane 

Okay, so I don't really want to write like her, since I have my own style, my own voice, but I do admire her work. She reminds me of another writer whose work I really like: Annie Dillard. The two women differ in what they write, but both consciously observe the world around them.  On DiCamillo's website, she says, "...each time you look at the world and the people in it closely, imaginatively, the effort changes you. The world, under the microscope of your attention, opens up like a beautiful, strange flower and gives itself back to you in ways you could never imagine."

Additional recommended reading: "Seeing," an essay by Annie Dillard.