I craft everything in the beginning. I know where the characters are going before I start writing the book.

The idea I pursue is the one that keeps coming back to me. The characters I think about as I'm falling asleep at night or when I'm driving to the grocery store are the one's I wind up writing about.

If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.

People seem able to love their dogs with an unabashed acceptance that they rarely demonstrate with family or friends. The dogs do not disappointment them, or, if they do, the owners manages to forget about it quickly. I want to learn to love people like this, the way I love my dog, with pride and enthusiasm and a complete amnesia for faults. In short, to love others the way my dog loves me.

I will write my way into another life.

I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. Amazing.

Home, bed, sleep, mother--who knew more beautiful words than these?