Being a lifetime wife and mother has afforded me the luxury of having multiple careers: I've been a teacher. A chauffeur. A chef. An interior decorator. A landscape architect, as well as a gardener. I’ve been a painter. A personal shopper. An accountant and a banker. I’ve been a beautician. Santa Claus. The Tooth Fairy. A movie reviewer. A nurse. A psychologist. A negotiator. An I have a Ph. D in How to Pretend Like You Don’t Mind.

As far as young kids go, my primary interest is to get parents to read to their kids. That’s about the most you can do, I think.

Why is it that if you happen to be black and over six feet tall, everybody thinks you supposed to play basketball or football?

I like doing the readings and the autographing, but the interviewing gets a little tedious because you get asked the same questions every day and sometimes three or four times a day.

I'm not trying to be a middle aged centerfold, I just want to look at myself naked and not be disgusted.

I don't let negative criticism, for the most part, bother me.

I'm the only one who can stop me.. I'm the one who's been sitting at the stoplight all these years, waiting for the light to turn green.