Remember to say what you mean, but don't say it meanly.

Oh, yes, I taught 13 and a half years. I taught English, first at a Catholic school and then at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif.

We are to make a plan for the day, pray over that plan, and then proceed with that plan. When we are willing to regard the unexpected as God's intervention, we can flex with the new plan, recognizing it as God's plan.

Plotting is difficult for me, and always has been. I do that before I actually start writing, but I always do characters, and the arc of the story, first... You can't do anything without a story arc. Where is it going to begin, where will it end.

It takes a lot of grace and maturity to simply forgive, but a lot of healing takes place when you do.

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

Gentleness is strength under control. It is the ability to stay calm, no matter what happens.