Now that I'm 50 and respectably settled in New England and markedly happier and more contented than I was in my youth, I modestly hope there's time to realize some of my youthful goals before I croak, but I'll take what I can get.

I grew up in an all-female family - two sisters and a mostly single mother - and we often bonded, in part, by disparaging men and feeling superior to them.

The male muse is an unaccountably rare thing in art. Where does that leave female artists looking for inspiration?

Chan Marshall has one of the most haunting, wrenching voices of any current singer, male or female.

For a while I didn't believe in marriage. But I think I do believe in having a love. I'm not saying only one love ever, but in having a good, solid relationship. I think that's possible.

My notion of the KGB came from romantic spy stories. I was a pure and utterly successful product of Soviet patriotic education.

Dev' is a love story but isn't about romance. It is also about loving friends as well as family and loving every moment of life.

I wasn't going to shy away from getting married when I did and having a baby young and starting a family, even with the job that I chose.