I do appreciate every single dollar I earn.

I don’t care about being stick-thin. I don’t want stuff to jiggle. Really skinny actresses make me hungry — I see them and think 'Honey, you need to eat!' I’m lucky I don’t have to live like that. I feel my best when I’m a toned, not flabby, size 8. Women come up to me and say, ‘You’re beautiful and confident, and that makes me feel I can be, too.’

I hope my music sets up the platform for me to be able to do lots of things - to have a cowboy-boot line, maybe, or do a perfume or makeup deal.

I do write a lot from personal experience, but I also embellish a bit.

When I got a record deal I said, 'I'm only wearing jeans. I'm not wearing frilly dresses.' Dancing around in sequins is just not who I am. I wanted to be heard, not seen.

I used to play for 200 people and now I'm selling out places that hold 16,000 people. It's a big change, and it's so cool to see people out there screaming the words to songs that I wrote. It just really reassures me that what I'm doing is working, and it really boosts my confidence, as far as on stage as a performer and a writer.

Don't get me wrong, I love my first two albums a lot.