Be serious. Life hurts. Reflect what hurts. I don't mean that you can't also be funny, or have fun, but at the end of the day, stories are about what you lose.

If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.

I believe in rules of behavior, and I'm quite interested in stories about the consequences of breaking those rules.

I've always been interested in miracles, or the miraculous of the unexplained. I don't scoff at what makes people believe or want to believe. I think I understand the tremendous attraction of the mysteries of the church to the same degree that I understand and appreciate the frustration people feel, especially believers, with the human rule-making arm of the church, with the not-miraculous part of the church - any church.

I have a very poor record at multiple choice questions.

It is exhausting to be seventeen and not know who you are.

With every book, you go back to school. You become a student. You become an investigative reporter. You spend a little time learning what it's like to live in someone else's shoes.