Christmas is never over,unless you want it to be... Christmas is a state of mind.

You should eat a waffle! You can't be sad if you eat a waffle!

I've written a lot of novels for teens and tweens ... but I'd never really tackled the North Carolina side of me. And it's so strong and so important, and yet I hadn't acknowledged it. And so one of the things I wanted to do in "Shine" is take that on.

Yes, that man acted ugly," she told us in plain English. "But throwing more ugliness back at him ain't the answer.

If she did see, I hoped she' be amazed. Amazed and thankful, because without even asking, she'd received a genuine autograph from a genuine girl from Atlanta. Not just any girl, but a girl who was, frankly, a pretty big deal. A girl who was me.

Some people do want to stand on the rooftop and scream out their story. Others are cowering in the corner, or sitting with a blank face in class, and not knowing how to tell their story.

I was just teasing," I say. "I myself don't like to eat plain butter, but hey, it's a free world.