Religion isn't in your DNA. you don't believe just because your parents believe.

I don't base my books on my life (thank goodness) and I don't pick the topic first. In fact, the topic picks me - via a question I can't answer as a mom, a wife, a woman, an American. I find myself wondering "What if..." and it blossoms into a whole novel.

But as he grew older, he learned that a word was a powerful thing. An insult didn't have to be shouted to bleed; a vow didn't have to be whispered to make you believe. Hold a thought in your head, and that was enough to change the actions of anyone and anything that crossed your path.

If God wanted us to act on instinct, we wouldn't have the power of reason.

I wish I could tell him I understand: the higher you raise your hopes, the farther you have to fall.

These days her entire life was about making people believe she was someone she wasn't anymore.

I will say overwhelmingly what means so much more to me than the opinion of one reviewer are the letters I get from fans who tell me how a particular book has changed their life.