Growing up in a violent home is a terrifying and traumatic experience that can affect every aspect of a child's life, growth, and development.

The tendency is to think if you are a professional woman, it's because you've turned your back on the traditional side. The tendency is not to recognize that we can excel as professionals without giving up our identity of being mother, wife and homemaker.

People show surprise that I have interests outside my political career. There is subtle surprise, for example, that I would be interested in a recipe.

Even though some in our government may claim that civil liberties must be compromised in order to protect the public, we must be wary of what we are giving up in the name of fighting terrorism.

Your desires will source you with the inspiration to release your outdated beliefs and let go of whatever behavior is keeping you stuck in the past.

I worked in the book publishing business for nearly two decades before I turned my attention to writing, first with a couple ghostwriting projects, plus a crappy novel that absolutely no one wanted to publish. Then I moved to Luxembourg for my wife's job and found the inspiration for 'The Expats.'

If I can be an inspiration for someone, that's fine, but just don't look down on me. Don't say, 'Oh, you're in a wheelchair.'

My inspiration are the woman, friendship, and loneliness.