Even in times when it's difficult to figure out, how do you go forward, art - and books - always help

Any weapon touched by a woman, even by accident, must be cleansed with both water and prayer so that her essence would not linger, diverting the warrior who might use it next, for even the faintest touch could bring lust to that man's heart. Perhaps that meant a woman who was well trained in arms would be the superior warrior, her attention never wavering from her task.

Every problem has a solution, although it may not be the outcome that was originally hoped for or expected.

You build your world around someone, and then what happens when he disappears? Where do you go-into pieces, into atoms, into the arms of another man? You go shopping, you cook dinner, you work odd hours, you make love to someone else on June nights. But you're not really there.

I feel more influenced in my own work by dreams than I do by other writers' works in a way. Or by popular culture, movies - what else is there to write about than love and loss?

They weren't true stories; they were better than that.

Still, she knows one thing for certain: never judge a relationship unless you are the one wrapped up in its arms.