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

Nobody gets to pick what life gives them

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

So this is always the key: you have to write the book you love, the book that's alive in your heart. That's the one you have to write.

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

What really grabs me is when a reader writes to express her personal story and how a book helped her situation, or her acceptance of a situation she can't change. I read some sad cases in my snail and electronic mail. I respond to all I can, affirming that they are the true heroes of life because they are fighting through adversity and surviving.