I loved growing up in a little town. I loved knowing people. I loved going to the store and running into people. I loved going into the store and having forgotten my bag, saying, 'Charge it, put it on my bill.' I loved going to the gas station and saying, 'Pete, fill it up.' I loved that continuity of life.

I hated country music growing up, but it gets in your bone marrow, kind of like a disease.

Texas is so big, and the place where I grew up was so little, and I was such a little thing growing up in the middle of it. I had two choices: I could either spend my life feeling insignificant, or I could look on the life I lived as a microcosm of the universe.

Jingle taps on the majorette boots were an important part of a little girl growing up in the South.

To have a successful writing career, you must be willing to sacrifice a great deal. The book, the deadline come first before anything else. Writing is not a job; it is a lifestyle, and it is a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows. You need self-confidence and an iron carapace.

Once our construction business began to win more contracts, our business success allowed us to reap the benefits of all the risks we took to start our company and we were able to resolve and settle outstanding fees.

There is often better opportunity attached to fame, at least career-wise. But it's a flash. You can't control it. You can't depend on it.

I have got a good imagination.