Growing up, nobody I knew even knew a writer. So it was a big adventure and something that I've wrestled with my whole life. I think it's a journey worth taking, really finding out who you are and what you do well.

The '90s are really the 'Sex and the City' woman, and I think, right now, the new contemporary woman is the 'Lipstick Jungle' woman.

The '80s was all about this idea that women could have it all. You could have a career, and you could have a husband, and you could have children.

As I'm writing, certain things become clear to me and certain things begin to feel right and make sense. The pieces start to fall into place.

Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion.

Happiness is a by-product rather than an end in itself. It pops into your life unbidden, and then tends to pop out again. I'm on record as being depressive. It is related to winter.

In the scope of a happy life, a messy desk or an overstuffed coat closet is a trivial thing, yet I find - and I hear from other people that they agree - that getting rid of clutter gives a disproportionate boost to happiness.

The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.