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

Love has a funny way of showing up when you aren't looking for it and didn't plan on it.

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.

For a woman, love is the highest dream, and if a man promises to build a ladder tall enough to reach it, she believes him, hikes up her skirt, and follows him to the stars.

I like it when my mother smiles. And I especially like it when I make her smile.

Women move through the world never knowing their power.

I even love the smell of books.