They say everyone needs something to love.

Ah, well. Life's too short for moderation, wouldn't you say?

It didn't occur to him that she might have chosen to remain this way. That where he saw reserve and loneliness, Cassandra saw self-preservation and the knowledge that it was safer when one had less to lose.

I want to be independent. To meet interesting people. ... I just mean new people with clever things to say. Things I've never heard before. I want to be free. Open to whatever adventure comes along and sweeps me off my feet.

... people who'd led dull and blameless lives did not give thanks for second chances.

She says there are stories everywhere and that people who wait for the right one to come along before setting pen to paper end up with very empty pages.

Some say I'm an overnight success. Well, that was a very long night that lasted about 10 years. But while I do, of course, now feel the pressure having had books that have been very successful, I just know I have to concentrate on writing for myself. I can't worry about genres or markets or what might be commercial or not. That never works.