For Madeleine L'Engle, writing is as connected to her Christian faith as breathing is to air. Madeleine L'Engle {Herself} comprises hundreds of L'Engle's reflections on writing, most shorter than a page and many illustrating her equal devotions to writing and prayer. L'Engle believes in collaborating with the subconscious mind. She believes that what you need for a work will come to you. She believes not in writing for children, but in retaining a childlike mind. And she believes it is her job to serve her work (though she claims frequently that she has "never served a work as it ought to be served"). She listens to the book she is writing, L'Engle says, just as she tries to listen in prayer. "If the book tells me to do something completely unexpected, I heed it; the book is usually right." But don't think this means that the work will write itself, and don't wait around to be inspired. "Inspiration comes during work," says the author, "not before it." --Jane Steinberg