It may seem strange, but the most grateful I've ever felt was when I was held up at gunpoint. After I handed over my wallet and the mugger ran off into the woods, I thought, 'Thank you for not shooting me.' I was overwhelmingly glad to be alive and unharmed.

I always believe that a person can learn so much by just jumping into something and trying to do it rather than having someone else teach you everything.

Songwriting is like editing. You write down all this stuff - all this bad, stupid stuff - and then you have to get rid of everything except the very best.

I feel some kind of duty to be really, really honest as a writer. The same is true of my songwriting.

I finished 'Beautiful Creature,' and I felt somewhat unfulfilled. I felt like this other side of me needed to be released. Some of the songs I left off the album weren't intense enough to be what I wanted. They weren't hard enough.

I'm really conflicted about my role as a front-person. I hate the attention.

Popular culture is filled with girls.