I like historical fiction. I fell in love with New Orleans the first time I visited it. And I wanted to place a story in New Orleans.

I love my dog unconditionally, but never the man I'm sleeping with.

I was a lousy journalist. I could never be objective. Sometimes I invented the whole story.

The writer of good will carries a lamp to illuminate the dark corners.

All stories interest me, and some haunt me until I end up writing them.

Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.

In 2011, I announced that I was going to retire, and my agent panicked. So she says: No, no, no. You have to write a book with your husband.