And you're figuring out who you are, and you haven't yet become stagnant in your thinking. You haven't solidified. And one thing that I find is that a lot of grown-ups tend to look back on their high school or middle school years and say, "Oh, thank God all that's over."

When you make a solemn promise to a friend, it ain't right to go back on it. No. Never let your friend down, never break a trust, and when you give your word, never go back on it. -Sheriff Andy Taylor

But you have to live in the present. You have to take the old and make it new -- that's my point.

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.

Also, as an author, character has always been what I'm most interested in - much more so than plot or setting, although those are good things too.

They're not chicks. They're ducks.