When I wrote 'Home Safe,' I wanted to look at a number of things: the mystery and joy and pain of creativity. What happens when a vital safety net is suddenly removed. The difficulty some people have in growing up. The way a deep love can be as crippling as it is satisfying. But mostly, I wanted to look at the mother-daughter relationship.

I think conflict is one of the things that makes for a good story.

Writing is, of course, a solitary occupation. But for many writers, myself included, it's through writing that we make certain vital connections.

I like my house to feel like a place where I can just lie back and say, 'Ahhhhh, I'm home.'

The breakdown of the American family's having a disastrous impact on our economy.

The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.

One family, one nation, indivisible. That mentality is essential for our salvation.

As a child singer, I never sang a single track for my father or uncle.