I had a lot of different reasons for writing the book, but at its core was the desire to write for black teenage girls growing up reading books they were absent from. That was my experience as a child. 'Children of Blood and Bone' is a chance to address that. To say you are seen.

The knowledge and insights you can get in just one day at a writers' conference make it worth the trip.

We like epic stories, we like adventure, we like epic fights, so if you can mix a great story that can also really teach someone about a different experience, you have the potential to really help people.

I want a little black girl to pick up my book one day and see herself as the star. I want her to know that she's beautiful, and she matters, and she can have a crazy, magical adventure even if an ignorant part of the world tells her she can never be Hermione Granger.

As a company dedicated to creating fun and affordable toys for children, everyone at Ty is proud to play a small part in helping children in need have a happy holiday. We are proud to be associated with Toys for Tots and congratulate our Marines for a job well done.

When it came time to take a job, I had the distinction of joining the smallest company of any graduate in my class. I left to become only the fifth full-time employee of HAL, and when I told my father this, you can imagine, it was not the happiest moment in the history of my family.

Eighty to 90 percent of success in a company has nothing to do with business at all - it's all personal.

Looking at it half-full, there was only two singers in Motley, me and Vince, and I'm still here, 25 years later. And whether I like it or not, I'm the other singer for Motley Crue, and not to sound weird, but I've gotten a lot of extra mileage, I think, out of my career because of it, so I have nothing but positive things to say.