I hate the word wholesome.

It's all about giving back, helping people and encouraging people. I love to do that.

There is no greater thrill than to sing with a beautiful orchestra.

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

If I am able to sing again it will be through some miracle operation. There's a lot of work being done to help singers regain their voices, but in my case I actually lost vocal tissue so it's very hard for my chords to rub together and I need to replace that tissue. I remain optimistic but not tremendously so.

These days, people like me who are in the arts are perceived as celebrity writers. That really makes me angry because I expend a great deal of effort and spend an enormous amount of time on my books. And I've been writing now for 35 years.

When adversity hits, go out and learn something.