Is it still there?" I asked, staring at his head, bent over, as he wedged the stethoscope beneath my left breast. And then, before I could stop myself, "Does it sound broken?

I'm not cut out to be a famous person; I can't do my hair and makeup well enough.

They say - "they" being the great philosophers, or possibly the cast of Seinfeld - that breaking up is like pushing over a Coke machine. You can't just do it, you have to set the thing in motion, rock it back and forth a few times.

There's nothing wrong with keeping your mouth shut if you don't have anything nice to say.

The difference between people who believe they have books inside of them and those who actually write books is sheer cussed persistence - the ability to make yourself work at your craft, every day - the belief, even in the face of obstacles, that you've got something worth saying.

Read everything. Read fiction and non-fiction, read hot best sellers and the classics you never got around to in college.

My book sales make 'real writers' possible.