I used to believe my art had to be about the things that brought me joy and gave me hope. But I learned that art can be found in all of life, even in pain.

Food was celebration, conversation, and nourishment. The table is where the big decisions of the family are made and all the arguing takes place.

I don't use a crap camera, I don't eat junk, and I'm not going to a dance where the boys are bores

People have often told me that one of their strongest childhood memories is the scent of their grandmother's house. I never knew my grandmothers, but I could always count of the Bookmobile.

And so, when I was a young writer I always worked hard on imagery, and I knew that the roots of imagery were the senses - and that if my readers could feel, taste and see what I was talking about, I would be able to tell them a story.

Motherhood changes everything.

This is where men and women are different, we can put aside petty competition for relationships - they can't. It interferes.