Sadly I don't sing. I missed it for a long time, but my daughter Emma said something wonderful when I was feeling blue one day: "Mom, you've just found a different way of using your voice, and that's with your books." In a way, she's right. It's just a different way of expressing what I feel about music, individuality, art and all the things I've always loved.

I've been blessed to be at the right place at the right time.

A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it.

If the director says you can do better, particularly in a love scene, then it is rather embarrassing.

I'd like to be an original, to be myself and not a pale copy of anyone else.

I think that the best way to explain that is that my mother gave me all the color and character and flare and liveliness, and my father gave me all the sanity and nature and all the things that helped me be a more rounded human being.

When in doubt, stand still.