I grew up with a feminist mom and the understanding that, as someone coming from a position of (relative) privilege, it was my job to speak up when things weren't fair.

We dated in our early 20s, when we were working at the same newspaper. We broke up, got back together and broke up again. I wanted to get married and have kids, but he wasn't ready. So I married someone else, had my daughters and the marriage ended ... and there was Bill. He'd never gotten married and was finally, finally ready. We discovered that we were still each other's favorite people to talk to.

I was lucky to receive help at the beginning of my career and now I want to help other writers as much as I can.

Regular women carry pictures of their babies, their husbands, their summer houses. Fat ladies carry pictures of themselves at their skinniest.

I get really starstruck and tongue tied when I'm around other writers and the conversation tends not to go well.

I went to Princeton, I minored in women's studies.

I wrote my first books when I was single and then I got married and then had a kid and there were different things happening in my life.