The English tradition offers the great tapestry novel, where you have the emotional aspect of a detective's personal life, the circumstances of the crime and, most important, the atmosphere of the English countryside that functions as another character.

I have to know the killer, the victim and the motive when I begin. Then I start to create the characters and see how the novel takes shape based on what these people are like.

Your choices and decisions are a reflection of how well you’ve set and followed your priorities.

Our actions, habits, character, and future are most definitely affected by our thoughts.

She thought about how it was so simple with animals. They gave their hearts without question or fear. They had no expectations. They were so easy to love. If people could only be like that, no one would ever be hurt, she thought. No one would ever need to learn how to forgive.

Let every hindrance to joy become the soil out of which joy blossoms.

Expectations destroy our peace of mind. They are future disappointments, planned out in advance.