I enjoyed studying costume, learning about the corsetry and the historical context of fashion. I never had any real intention of being a costume designer.

One of my most sentimental items is my grandmother's engagement ring that my mom gave me a few years ago. It's a Victorian-style setting that's closed in the back, so it doesn't sparkle the way diamonds do now. I wear it as a pendant.

I think it's very empowering to be able to have a career and to be a mother. It gives you an amazing sense of self.

New York is very career-orientated and it's hard to take time off here, but that is great for building a business.

I'm drawn to talented, creative people who often just don't know how to support themselves - they're more focused on their work than trying to figure that out. So I commission a lot of works with artists who I like personally or professionally, and through that process, I wound up collecting a lot of art.

Technology is a major tool in exploring and challenging your creativity, but it can also overtake your creativity... My mind goes very fast, and I can see all kinds of images that would be spectacular on the screen. But they would cost so much money, and would they really make the story that much better?

I use rock and jazz and blues rhythms because I love that music. I hope my poetry has a relationship with good-time rock'n roll.

I am often asked what I would be doing if I hadn't become a writer. I have long said I would probably be a chef or a garden designer or a decorator, but since recording my own books, there is no doubt in my mind that if the writing doesn't work out, voice work is what I would choose.