I got to thinking—when it was too late—you have to reach out to people. To your family, too. You can't just let them sit there, you should put your hand out. If they slap it back, well you reach out again if you care enough. If you don't care enough, you forget about them, if you can.

Kids are really tougher than adults, but we tend to forget this in an affluent society that lets kids indulge themselves.

I have the feeling that I know who I am, only I'm not anymore.

You could say that all of life is a series of last chances.

By the time I started high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. After graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts, I moved to New York City and worked for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.

Even the bad books I write are satisfying. I'm my least critical reader.

Hiding under the bed doesn't make the worry stop.