Not everything," he said. "Not the important things. My kids are safe. You're safe. That's all I really care about. This" - he said motioning - "is just stuff. Most of it can be replaced. It just takes time.

Even when we were standing in church and I was getting ready to take my vow I can remember wishing that you were standing there instead of him.

I'm writing a new love story, set in eastern North Carolina. Surprise, surprise, huh?

All of sudden, this shooting star went by, and all I could think was that they were listening to us somehow.

Focus in on the genre you want to write, and read books in that genre. A LOT of books by a variety of authors. And read with questions in your mind.

I'm a novelist at heart. My sole intention is to write the best novel possible. I don't think about the film potential at all.

He was ordinary in a world that loved the extraordinary.