People love stories. They need stories.

When you love what you do, it stops seeming like work and instead becomes necessity.

I am an indifferent cook but I can make pie.

I had a nervous breakdown at 17 when my first love left me, and he was a typical bad boy, albeit a charismatic one, with a string of broken hearts trailing behind him.

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.

I think it's crucial to live, play and work passionately. I'm inspired by my husband, my son and the sense of possibility in the world.

I think my stubbornness has served me well. I just knew at an early age what I wanted to do and I was determined to be able to make it happen, no matter how long it took.