She had gradually changed her name. "Jane" was too dull. Last year, she'd added a "y", becoming Jayne, which had more personality.

Actually my first eight books were historical novels, but they were never published

I wrote eight full-length adult novels in my twenties. None of them were published

But sometimes, in tight corners, when your back is against the wall and the world is against you, you have to fight back in unexpected ways.

When in doubt, shut up.

If you write a story based on a real person, you're trapped by the details of the real person and his life. It gets in the way of writing your own story.

I wonder why we always deny love. I remember in middle school, if you were accused of the crime of loving, you screamed denials constantly and stopped ever even looking at the boy you were accused of liking. The boys could destroy each other by yodeling, "An-drew lo-oves Jen-nie," and both Andrew and Jennie would flinch and blush. Love is this great thing that most songs and books and poems and lives are all about. So the minute we actually think there might be love around, we start laughing and pretending and hiding from it.