Evidence tells that black and Latina woman are more accepting of curves, and that's a good thing.

Now that I live in Southern California, my current world certainly speaks to me, and I sense that my next book will have a more American and southerly setting. But that's certainly not to say I won't be back to Leaford.

The strangest thing about strange things is that they're only strange when you hear about them or think about them later, but never when you're living them.

I have had, like most women, a lifelong preoccupation with my weight. My first published short story was a love story between an elderly man and a very young morbidity obese woman.

When we talk about God, I think what most of us mean is some greater thing, some higher power that can help us access our own strength or give us strength.

I'm not alone in having obese people in my circle and in my family. I have loved morbidly obese people, and I don't approach obesity with revulsion or judgment but with empathy and compassion.

We're seeing a decline in religion in North America but, I hope, a rise in individual spirituality. Whatever that means to people.