Q. What is your daily life like when you are writing a book?
A. I wake up early and am at my desk first thing in the morning. My best hours are those quiet ones at the beginning of a day. Around lunch time or midday, I go swimming, to give my muscles a stretch and a break from sitting at the computer, and to free my mind. Then after lunch, it’s back to my computer for another stretch. If I’m up against a deadline, or working on two writing projects at once, I often put in really long hours—sometimes I stay up writing until 2 a.m.!

I often tell my readers that one of the best things about being a writer is that I get to go to work in my pajamas!
Q. How did you happen to start a new series about Judy Moody’s little brother, Stink?
A. The idea for Stink to appear in his own series came from my Judy Moody readers. The boys who were reading Judy Moody loved Stink and asked over and over when Stink might star in his own adventures. Soon after, the smelly-sneakered, shrinking kid was born! Now he’s gone on to tackle giant jawbreakers and smelly sneakers, not to mention rescue 101 guinea pigs and help save the planet Pluto!

Q. Where do you get your ideas for your books about Judy Moody? Has that changed over the 10 years you have been writing them?
A. I grew up with four older sisters, and countless stories to go with it! Lots of the antics between Judy and Stink, like the Toad Pee Club, are based on true stories of funny things that happened growing up. So the “big sister” idea formed the basis for Judy. But I needed somebody for Judy, the older sister, to play jokes on and boss around.

So I invented a pesty, annoying younger brother for her, (to make it different from my own life) and named him Stink.

Moods were also a big part of inventing the character of Judy Moody. To begin with, that's how I came up with her name. I thought it might be more interesting to write about a girl in all her moods--bad, mad, sad, etc. Her moods help make Judy real for me, and for my readers. I’m the moody one in the family, but I think bad moods are universal, don’t you? We’re ALL in a Judy-Moody-bad-mood sometime, and readers really embrace that.

Q. How about your ideas for the Stink series?
A. Stink is like me; he’s the youngest. So I delight in writing from his point of view. A Stink book might be inspired by a giant jawbreaker I saw at the candy store, or a newspaper article about a kid who won a smelly sneaker contest. When I read about Pluto being demoted and kicked out of the solar system as a planet, I knew Stink had to become a champion for Pluto! I get loads of letters from my readers, and kids have asked me over and over if Stink might play a sport in his next adventure. So… Stink takes up thumb-wrestling, which leads to karate, in his next forthcoming adventure. Hi-ya!

Q. What was your favorite children’s book when you were a third grader?
A.Harriet the Spy. Also Nancy Drew, Ramona, and Pippi Longstocking. I was quite obsessed with a particular biography of Virginia Dare as well.

Q. Who is/are the children’s authors whose work has most inspired you?
A. Katherine Paterson. Paula Fox. Susan Patron.

Q. Is the Judy Moody series available in other countries and languages? If so, where and what languages?
A. Judy Moody is now published in over twenty languages around the world. Often she is still called Judy Moody, but sometimes her name changes with the language. In Poland, she’s Hania Humorek, in Hungary, Durrebele Dorka, and in Serbia, Caca Faca!

Q. I know you hear from lots of young fans of your series. Are there particular things most seem to like best?
A. My fans especially like the Toad Pee Club, of course, and the practical joke with the fake hand in the toilet! Just as many write to me, though, in appreciation of her generous side—when she tries to save the planet or fixes all the dolls for the kids at her local children’s hospital.

Kids see themselves in Judy, and write to me about their own families, pets, siblings, moods, and collections. They also quite often ask me to have Judy and Rocky get into a best-friend fight, and many ask me to make Judy and Frank Pearl fall in love! Most recently, my readers ask: WHEN is Judy Moody going to be a movie. The answer: Summer 2011!

What's Next: The Judy Moody Movie!
I was delighted that Megan McDonald was not only willing to answer a lot of questions about her writing and her Judy Moody and Stink books, but that she also was willing to do an interview about the first Judy Moody movie, Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer.