We believe what we want to, what we need to. The corollary is that we choose not to see what we'd rather pretend doesn't exist.

The weapons an author has at her disposal are flawed. There are words that feel shapeless and overused. Love, for example. I could write the word love a thousand times and it would mean a thousand different things to different readers.

You give her all your french fries, even when she won't give you back onion rings,' Sophie says. 'And when you say her name it sounds different.' How?' Sophie thinks. 'Like it's covered with blankets.

Maybe a mother wasn't what she seemed to be on the surface.

Every year I tell myself that I’m not going to read any reviews and then I do. We’re all human and when I read something negative it hurts. I think when you write it’s part of the game, you’re going to get some good reviews and some bad reviews and that’s how it goes. I don’t write for the reviews.

My dad used to say that living with regrets was like driving a car that only moved in reverse.

For someone who can’t remember very much, there seems to be a lot I can’t forget.