I really, really, loved being an elected official. But I also love what I'm doing now. I thrive when I can fight for people and I'm doing it now as a lawyer.

I would suggest that people do need to trust someone, to think they care about you. I believe that in my heart.

My original book [Straight to the Heart: Political Cantos] was 1,700 pages. The first editor brought it down to 700; there was a lot that didn't make it in. But at last it's finished. I had a hard time signing off on it. And I was worried about it hurting anyone I loved even indirectly. I sat in my room afterwards for two hours wondering what I had done. I wondered about it being judged and if people would understand.

I think the book [Straight to the Heart: Political Cantos] has meaning for any large city with urban problems. There are political machines in a lot of large cities, and everywhere the goals of society get lost.

My success has been based on the issues. It's easy to fight for mental health or needle exchange or small businesses or whatever, because the machine can't interfere.

The last thing I would ever do though is actively work against another woman.

I never worked on anything so hard in my life [like my book 'Straight to the Heart: Political Cantos'], including the Bar exam. The only other thing I could compare it to is having four babies by age 24. That was hard.