As Jane Austen might have put it: It is a truth universally acknowledged that young protagonists in search of adventure must ditch their parents.
I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.
If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway.
After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.
Life is hard . . . but we cling to it all the same
Everyone, from the Mother Superior to the priests to my parents--they were so upset and reproachful...I felt as if something they all passionately believed in depended on me carrying on with something I didn't.