I'm more interested in interpersonal relationships - between lovers families, siblings. That's why I write about how we treat each other.

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.

People always have something to say about what you do and how you do it.

I remember the day I turned thirty. I was getting out of the shower and I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself for a long time. I examined every inch of my body and appreciated the fact that I finally looked like a grown woman. I also assumed that this was how I was going to look for the rest of my life. The way I saw it, I was never going to age; I'd just look up one day and be old.

Too many of us are hung up on what we don't have, can't have, or won't ever have. We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy – if not less of it – doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do.

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 take what people feel and think, especially when it's different from, very seriously, and I find it liberating.