Michael and I talk at least every two weeks. He understands why I've done the things I have.

I can count the number of dates I've had on one hand. I wish that guys would approach me, but they don't.

There's a lesson to be learned out of everything we go through in life. I recall when I left [Jack Gordon], and my mother was so upset. "How could you allow him to beat you? You should really be upset with him." And I said, "Mother, I can't be." She goes, "Why?" I said, "Because I can't harbor hatred in my heart." I was extremely religious and extremely naïve. God took me through that for a reason, for me to learn the outcome.

Black people were very angry with me for writing the book. A lot of people didn't believe me, or didn't want to believe me, and that used to really bother me. It was a very painful and difficult time.

I think women need to have a lobby. I feel that women need to speak out. The first time a man hits you is one too many times and you need to do something about it. That something about it is walking out that door and seeking for help and never looking back.

It's good to do things that are out of the norm. I'm a creature of habit and I like to stay in my own little comfort zone, but you have to reach out of that sometimes. And when you do that, you grow. And growth is what we all need and what we all strive for because we want to get better and better and better each day. And that's one of the things that I say to myself as far as a ritual that I have every day: "What can I do today to make it better than it was yesterday?"

I think life is a learning lesson within itself. I think you should take the best out of everything that you see and that you encounter and make the best of it.