The best romance writers know there's nothing that builds conflict or makes a gentleman of a rogue more quickly than responsibility.

No matter how troubled a character's history, romance novels tell us, love can be built upon it, and happily-ever-after can result. What's more, the darker the past, the brighter the future - and the better the read.

I think back on that day when 16-year-old me scribbled on some silly piece of paper for some long-forgotten high school career-day project that my dream job was 'romance novelist.'

The trick to great romance is in overcoming adversity. In realizing that love is worth some uphill climbs.

I don't have a life, really. I take my kids to school, and I go home, and I write. Then I go pick my kids up, make them dinner, put them to bed, and write some more.

My parents played the Bee Gees; Earth, Wind & Fire; Michael Jackson. The best pop music to infiltrate a child's mind.

At 13, Stade Rennais came to sign me, and the whole family moved to Rennes. I wanted my family to follow me and be by my side.

Well, I made an announcement to my family at 8 that I wanted to be an actor, and I focused like a laser beam on it. I never had a fallback plan.