From The Horn Book’s interview with literary master Jane Yolen:

Do you believe in magic?

I believe there are prestidigitators who can do card tricks and saw-the-woman-in half tricks. I believe there are politicians who can make us believe up is down and wrong is right. I believe there are preachers who try to sell us a mess of pottage.

And then I believe that an owl in flight, a hawk in stoop, an otter rising out of the duckweed, a triple rainbow over the Isle of May, the New Jersey skyline as seen from the Highline in Manhattan on a night of the full moon, the small greenings of spring, honeybees on a blossom, and a newborn’s finger curled around mine are small everyday miracles, another word for ordinary magic. And that I believe in.

Oh — and if anyone can show me a real fairy, or a ghost, or a unicorn, I am so there . . . .

Challenge accepted, Jane.

Click through for more of Yolen’s thoughts on fairy tales, contemporary fantasy novels, and her latest novel, Snow in Summer.

PS–Yolen also has some great suggestions for writers on her website.