The big dramas that fascinate me are the quiet ones that happen behind closed doors in so-called ordinary families.

Although Salinger had long since cut me out of his life completely and made it plain that he had nothing but contempt for me, the thought of becoming the object of his wrath was more than I felt ready to take on.

Before I had children I always wondered whether their births would be, for me, like the ultimate in gym class failures. And I discovered instead... that I'd finally found my sport.

I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.

I believe every one of us possesses a fundamental right to tell our own story.

I do not outline. There are writers I know and count as my friends who certainly do it the other way but for me part of the adventure is not knowing how it's going to turn out.

The painter who feels obligated to depict his subjects as uniformly beautiful or handsome and without flaws will fall short of making art.