I like to tell young people - you know one in four children die by their own hands - no matter how bad things seem, just wait a day, wait a week. Life will turn around.

But they can't know how the dark space inside me is growing. I lie to them. I can't get out of the dark hole. 'Peace is here' it whispers.

Old characters never die, but I do need to take a break from them in order to create new ones.

Well, in Angel of Hope, Amber ends up going in her sister's stead. The focus of that book and the next one coming out, Angel of Love, is how she finds her way out of her sister's shadow and into herself. That's really what those two novels are based on.

By using novels, I show ordinary kids confronting and overcoming great odds.

In truth, how much time do any of us really have?

People can't help the way they look, just the way they act.