Each of my books is different from the last, each with its own characters, its own setting, its own themes. As a writer, I need the variety. I sense my readers do, too.

In plotting a book, my goal is to raise the stakes for the characters and, in so doing, keep the reader mesmerized.

Parents do bear some of the responsibility if they don't talk to their kids, are never around, even deny their kids the love that young girls often crave when they decide to have a baby.

Too often, I've seen instances where we have an idea of what we want to be, where we want to go, and with whom - before life steps in the way, throws something at us that is beyond our control, and changes everything.

I think food and education will help stem the poverty of the young people who are being drawn into terrorism every day.

Film and television were out. I was 24, and it went on until I was 36. For an actor, those are your years. I got a great urgency and education during the blacklist, and it made me grow up in a way I never could have before, and in very good ways, too.

If we practiced medicine like we practice education, we'd look for the liver on the right side and left side in alternate years.

My favorite subject in high school was English. I love reading and writing, and I felt really supported in this subject, and my least favorite was math, since I felt completely lost.