Everybody is a hero in their own story if you just look.

We have to make our own happiness, and we have to make our own decisions and play the hand that is dealt to us.

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.

My memory of my home was that it was very happy, and that there was more fun and life there than there was anywhere else.

Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing in life, really. And I think we are all striving for it in different ways. I also believe very, very strongly that everybody is the hero/heroine of his/her own life. I try to make my characters kind of ordinary, somebody that anybody could be. Because we've all had loves, perhaps love and loss, people can relate to my characters

You say to yourself: 'What could people, in all these countries, find in my books?' and yet I think we're all the same, anywhere. Everybody is a hero or a dramatic person in their own story if you just know where to look.