And before you barrel through some idiotic Cosmo girl list of how-well-do-you-know-your-man questions, let me say that I don't know squat about him except that he kisses like a god and screws like a devil.

Popularity means people think they know you.

I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known.

Thoughts - even fears - were airy things, formless until you made them solid with your voice and once given that weight, they could crush you.

Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. ‘Real hurts.’

The hallmark of my books is the relationships that define women's lives.

Their friendship was more important than any relationship. Guys would come and go; girlfriends were forever.