Even the roughest character, underneath all that hurt, is someone who wants to love and be loved.

One of the things that makes a dead leaf fall to the ground is the bud of the new leaf that pushes it off the limb.

There are so many people who don't know small towns exist. When I write, I want to give my readers two things: one is a sense of consolation, and two, I want to make them laugh.

Loving can be hard. Sometimes we don't feel loving, but it isn't all about feeling. Very often it is about will. Practice that if you can.

Cynics will say there are no good people out there. And if you read the papers and watch TV news you could be convinced of that. But there are good people.

Let me say that I absolutely loved writing 'A Common Life,' because it was a book about love.

And it can be a way of healing.