Hardest thing: creating something out of nothing - the first draft is torturous.

First I laughed my way through Elinor Lipman's book of political tweets. Then I put my ear to the ground and listened to Molly Ivins guffawing from the grave. Lipman is a piquant poetic rock star!

The point is this: that the stream of memory may lead you to the river of understanding. And understanding, in turn, may be a tributary to the river of forgiveness.

Dialogue comes naturally to me and I can hear the characters' voices in the scenes.

I try to stick with what moves me or teaches me about myself, same thing I hope the novels do for others.

Getting a job scared her but she was determined not to shy away from risk. That's what life's all about. Climbing out onto the airplane wing and jumping off.

Only there's two sides to every story, you know. You just remember that.