Publishing is, by its nature, about deadlines, and deadlines are toxic.

There may be circumstances in this life that God uses to keep bringing us back to Him, looking for His grace.

I have raced against the clock since I went into advertising at the age of eighteen.

I learned not to be so bitterly defeated when my fiction took a beating from editors. I learned in advertising to color in the lines and have my work done on time and to make it the very best it could be.

When the trees and the power lines crashed around you, when the very roof gave way above you, when the light turned to darkness and water turned to dust, did you call on Him? When you called on Him, was He somewhere up there, or was He as near as your very breath?

I made real sacrifices and took big risks. But living, it seems to me, is largely about risk.

My first novel is loaded with food references largely because my cupboards were bare, and I was writing hungry.