i know what it's like to wake up thinking you will be able to cast the people who play the starring roles in your life, only to realize that you have to watch it from the audience.

The best parenting advice I ever got was from a labor nurse who told me the following: 1. After your baby gets here, the dog will just be a dog. 2. The terrible twos last through age three. 3. Never ask your child an open-ended question, such as "Do you want to go to bed now?" You won't want to hear the answer, believe me. "Do you want me to carry you upstairs, or do you want to walk upstairs to go to bed?" That way, you get the outcome you want and they feel empowered.

Life can change in an instant; don't be so worried about the future that you forget to celebrate what you have right now.

I start by mulling a question and before I know it, a whole drama is unfolding in my head. Often, an idea sticks before I know what I'm going to do with it.

But there is a different between mending someone who's broken and finding someone who makes you complete.

When I think about writers who use fiction as social commentary and to raise social awareness but who are also very popular, I think of Dickens.

In the end, though, I did not kill my sister. She did it all on her own. Or at least this is what I tell myself.