I'm a very good storyteller; I have a lot of compassion for people. That's very useful for a novelist. A lot of novelists are snots. They're just mean people. I'm not a terribly skilled stylist, nor do I want to be. I want a lot of people to read one of my stories and go, 'That was pretty cool.'

On the other hand, even a big, '80s love van was less noticeable than six flying kids and their talking dog. So there you go.

A vet! I started laughing weakly and had to sit on the edge of the tub. A vet. Wait till they found out how appropriate that was.

At that moment I had no mind to change, or not change, or throw against the nearest wall.

I knew how good love could be -- I knew it was the best thing I'd ever done in my life -- and yet here I was alone. I was taking chances with my life. I kept telling everybody that I was all right, but I wasn't.

Love means you can never be apart.

It's our job - as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles - to find books our kids are going to like.