In my life as a wife and mother, I'm always conscious of my desire to be present.

Moving to the country has been incredibly good for my work, for my sense of perspective.

I do whatever is necessary in order to maintain the equanimity we all need to withstand the disappointment and rejection that are the lot of every writer, no matter where we are in our careers.

I was doing a lot of yoga and learning to meditate, and I found that extremely helpful, and still do and hopefully always will.

The fact is that most husbands, regardless of religion - it's an old-fashioned gender divide where the husband wants to stay home and the wife is the one who drags herself and her children to whatever spiritual center they're going to.

We can't protect ourselves from pain and heartache. In fact, to love - fully, madly, deeply - is the ensure heartache some day.

Everything I know about life I learned from the daily practice of sitting down to write.