I used to get a lot of letters from prisoners. It used to get on my nerves. Especially family members. Everybody's innocent.

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.

Few writers are willing to admit writing is autobiographical.

Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.

I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can't stand.

It's not that marriage itself is bad; it's the people we marry who give it a bad name.

Folks want to glow, to leave their worries and dead skin behind.