The editor, Stephen Segal, actually called me with the idea of creating an accordion book [ "The Thorn & The Blossom"], and asked if I could write a story for it. I was so intrigued! I immediately knew that it had to be a love story told from the points of view of the two main characters. Right away, I started working on a proposal. And once I had my main characters, Brendan and Evelyn, it was as though they started telling me their stories.

Accept criticism. If you do not offer your work for criticism and accept that criticism, meaning give it serious thought and attention, then you will never improve.

The only thing worth thinking about, when I write a story, is whether I like it, whether I want to write it, whether it excites me.

That sort of effort has to come not only from the writer but also from a really innovative publisher like Quirk.

What writers do - everything comes from inside, from experiences of the world that we have digested. And then we turn it into silk, or stories.

I'm writinng my first full-length novel, which is based on a novella I wrote called "The Mad Scientist's Daughter." I'm having a wonderful time with it, but of course it's presenting challenges as well. Stories always do, no matter what they are.

Believe in the importance of your art.