I care a great deal about LGBT U.S. servicemen and women being able to serve openly and honestly. Since early in my career, I've included realistic LGBT characters in my books. The idea that a gay Navy SEAL had to hide who he was in order to serve was a terrible one - and I made sure my readers knew that!

Marriage equality is coming, and not merely to a theater near you.

If 'gay' is not in your vocabulary, if being gay is not an option in your world, then you're far more likely to see your kid as anything but gay.

You have to really want to be a Navy SEAL. The passion you need to endure the rigors of training, to become the best of the best... It's admirable.

In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: 'We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.'

Have faith in your intuition and listen to your gut feeling.

So much of what comes out of the faith community seems so dour and somber, and we want to say, 'Hey, we're real people. You can be a person of faith and really enjoy life and laugh.'

I have to have faith that we're going to succeed in transforming where we get our energy from. The big worry is whether or not we're going to do it before it's too late. And I think nobody knows the answer to that.