Because of Winn-Dixie is a story told in the first person and because of that I...

Because of Winn-Dixie is a story told in the first person and because of that I often get asked if I am India Opal Buloni. The answer, alas, is no. Opal, at ten years old, is kinder and wiser and more open than I ever was as a kid. But here is an unexpected benefit to telling a story: your characters teach you. The people you make up deepen you and change you.
Which brings me to Bink, a character who is short and loud and who likes to be fed by the people she loves. In other words, ...