Like seeing a photograph of yourself as a child, encountering handwriting that you know was once yours but that now seems only dimly familiar can inspire a confrontation with the mystery of time.

You aim for what you want and if you don't get it, you don't get it, but if you don't aim, you don't get anything.

I work really long days and I work seven day weeks.

A lot of girls who turn into something remarkable start off as irrepressible, confident and a handful.

We never believe we're beautiful, no matter how many times we hear it. We never believe it until someone says it in the right way.

Like most-maybe all- writers, I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.

Every page was once a blank page, just as every word that appears on it now was not always there, but instead reflects the final result of countless large and small deliberations. All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another. And what grabs and keeps our interest has everything to do with those choices.