There have been years where I've had to take a real job and I wrote during slow times and lunches. I think never forgetting how lucky I am to be able to do something I love has really fueled me.

Housewives of the 1950s were supposed to create show-stopping meals every night for their hard-working husbands.

I think the Internet has made things a lot easier. Twitter and Facebook let you really connect to your readers effortlessly!

Everyone thinks that a new place or a new identity will jumpstart a new life.

Open adoption, when it works, is fabulous. But when it goes wrong, it's so traumatizing for everybody.

L.A. is a place people come to for all sorts of reasons, often to reinvent themselves, and that fascinates me.

A haunting, harrowing punch to the heart, Among the Missing is flat-out brilliant. About the secrets we keep, the lives we are desperate to live, and the chances we miss, it's a psychological dazzler. Truly, one of my favorite books of this year-or any year.