As for music, my tastes are eclectic. Elvis Costello is my all-time favorite. I listen to a lot of jazz, primarily the great female vocalists, and I am very fond of the late cabaret singer Nancy Lamott.

There's a serendipity to real life that the Internet can't duplicate. Do you use the library? For anything? Well, sometimes you end up picking up the book next to the one you were looking for, and it's that book that changes your life.

how magnanimous was a gesture if one were constantly aware of its magnanimity?

I like to see writers reach bigger and bigger audiences, and stand-alones have allowed some of them to do just that.

Children can be happy when their parents are miserable. But a parent is never happier than her unhappiest child.

In fact, I think every book I've written has been inspired by a real event.

There's always time to read. Don't trust a writer who doesn't read. It's like eating food prepared by a cook who doesn't eat.