I don't think anyone could write about another culture and get it 100 percent accurate.

Creating the characters is the most creative part of the novel except for the language itself. There I am, sitting in front of my computer in right-brain mode, typing the things that come to mind - which become the seeds of plot. It's scary, though, because I always wonder: Is it going to be there this time?

I knew from the age of seven that I was meant to be a writer.

The past can't be changed, can it? It can just be forgiven.

God begins molding a mother after His own heart on the inside-in the inner woman and her heart-and then works outward.

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.

God uses the flawed, the failures, and the imperfect to accomplish His perfect will.