I've several times spoken of my interest in how people felt and thought as being greater than in what they actually did; I suppose one of the most fundamental groupings of novelists is into two classes: those who primarily want to know what is done, and those whose interest is largely in why. For better or worse I belong to the second group. I was anxious to show young readers something of the excitement of human nature, never static, always changing, often unpredictable and endlessly fascinating.