I've said it hundreds of times to hundreds of students,
in hundreds of classrooms, "I always wanted to be a writer."
But
I am a liar. A dreamer. A trickster.
What I really wanted....
I wanted to be a pirate, so I wrote Crabcake Charlie,
to be a sailor, so I named myself Pleemo and sailed off
to meet the Bora Bears.
I wanted to live in a castle like King Kenrick
to travel the country in my own bookmobile
to let the wind whoosh me into the sky and far away
to have firemen turn on a water hydrant for me.
I wanted to play tricks the way my father did,
to stay outside all night
to call the sun out on a rainy day.
Now in my books I've done all those things
