The Backyard Bird Chronicles

by Amy Tan

“As you look at the bird, try to feel the life within it.” For me that meant “Be the bird.” That came naturally to me as a fiction writer. To feel the life of the story, I always imagine I am the character I am creating.

So true! I am a naturalist but also write fiction — my books are told from the point of view of animals, so I try to get inside their heads and look at life as THEY see it.