However far fiction writers stray from their own lives and experiences - and I stray pretty far from mine - I think, ultimately, that we may be writing what we need to write in some way, albeit unconsciously.

The seeker embarks on a journey to find what he wants and discovers, along the way, what he needs.

But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. Not just my family now, but the others-the ones who have died...They're with me still. They're here...

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

Love comes in far more shapes and sizes than what the family-values crowd condones, of course.

I won't read novels while writing novels.

I grew up in a household of women, they ran the show, they kept it all together. I credit my ability to write in female voices, as well as male, with having grown up with older sisters in a neighborhood largely populated by girls.