I think I'm constantly trying to grow as a pitcher. You start going out there, you're learning stuff, you're finding different ways to try to get guys out. Trying to be creative.

That's what you want to do, is get recognized for accomplishments you've had on the field, not off the field. That's always my goal, to find ways to do that.

We don't know, ultimately, if we'll end up in San Francisco, but we're talking about keeping the house. It would be nice to always have a place here.

You try to take advantage of taking control of the game when you know you may have guys on base and counts aren't in your favor or whatever. You just try to figure out ways to slow the game down to get back to the pace that you want it to be at, to try to get the momentum back on your side.

My father still is a lawyer, and my mom was a teacher and then later a career counselor.

With the amount of flops that I have seen in my career, one would think that my career would have been over long back. But it has sustained. And I truly believe it did because I lived life on my own terms.

After 25 years sitting on my own in a room, I was looking for a more companionable job and wanted to work more collaboratively. I've also been very lucky in my career, with good advances and multibook deals. But there is some extent to which I worried that I was writing for the contract and not for the impulse of the thing itself.

I was always in trouble for chatting. My school reports all used to say, 'Donna is a very bright girl, but she must stop talking in class.' In the end, I made a career out of it.