Usually the kids are portrayed as very one-dimensional. Like these mindless animals that just have three things on their minds: getting laid, getting drunk, and driving real fast over Mulholland Drive.

I've always been the bookish type, and I've never really hidden that about myself.

Jazz is my comfort music, like comfort food.

I used to sing with my father's jazz band and then when I was ten years old a musician friend of his suggested that I try out for the first west coast production of Annie.

Not all women write the same. But I don't understand why the model is that you're supposed to write like a man, and that means you're a real writer.

Getting the pretty back is about getting back in touch with your essential self: the part of you that knows what you really want.

My parents always raised us with the idea of having college in mind. You sort of need a college education. It's part of life. It's something that you do - like going to your prom.