People do strange things sometimes, when they feel hopeless.

I am endlessly busy, bringing up five young kids, and trying to keep up with the three older ones. I still spend most of my life driving car pools.

I'm a terribly irresponsible eater - I love soft-boiled eggs and chocolate. I never met a chocolate I could not eat.

Each book takes anywhere from two to three years to complete, from concept to outline to final edits. I work on as many as five at a time.

It's been very hard, after being mostly a mom, to develop an adult life of my own. And not being married anymore, I have to come up with challenges.

I think I'm very real as a person, and that comes across in my work.

Not everyone is meant to stay forever.