Sometimes I'm so sweet even I can't stand it.

Can I give them what they think they're going to get from me? That's always the big question.

I love singing, and I came to absolutely adore it in the later part of my career.

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.

Singing has never been particularly easy for me.

You always do that with movie musicals. You prerecord and then you lip-synch to playback.

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.