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

I created a character whose motives were pure and good and she was going to go out and save the whole world. But the truth is, you can't save the whole world, but you can save one. And that was the whole thrust of the novel - to save just one.

I wanted to write about the third world and had the opportunity to go live in the trenches, so to speak.

For as long as the world spins and the earth is green with new wood, she will lie in this box and not in my arms.

I wanted to show what it's really like for 98 percent of the world's population [in the third world]. Plus, I also see there are an awful lot of young people out there doing good things, and I wanted to give them a platform.

Pain and suffering are the soil of strength and courage.

I have known some magnificent young people who died very young but had wonderful lives and inspired many people by their short existence.