I'm happy if my book makes you want to kiss your family... if we can reconcile with each other no matter where we are on the globe.

I'm happy if my book makes you want to kiss your family... if we can reconcile with each other no matter where we are on the globe.

Maybe if we can find time to hug and cherish our families and the people around us, child suicide or college suicide wouldn't be rampant.

I always felt my writing could benefit from the attention of established writers. I knew my work could grow and be better.

I think fiction allows us to sit for a while with people we would rather not meet.

I have been very afraid of writing about other cultures and countries. I've been worried about getting the research wrong. I ask a lot of questions. I try to visit the area. If I'm not able to do that, I search out people from that country who live elsewhere and ask questions.

I'd say my religious life has shaped my worldview; my writing, I'd say too, is an extension of the pulpit...it reaches folks who don't care for organized religion in a different way.