"Well, you can't be trying to achieve success of any kind in this business without accepting that there's going to be a flip side to it."

"My parents started with very little and were the only ones in their families to graduate from college. As parents, they focused on education, but did not stop at academics - they made sure that we knew music, saw art and theatre and traveled - even though it meant budgeting like crazy."

"But I'll never be one of those women who feel that they always have to wear earrings and aren't properly dressed without them."

"I remember, my mom didn't have any help, so if she needed to be somewhere after school, we'd just go down to the neighbors' and she'd give us a snack and make sure we did our homework. There weren't any latchkey kids."

"They died hard, those savage men - like wounded wolves at bay. They were filthy, and they were lousy, and they stunk. And I loved them."

"I believe the most intricate plot won't matter much to readers if they don't care about the characters, especially in a series. So I try to focus hard on making each character, whether villain or hero, have an interesting flaw that readers can relate to."

"If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great."

"Fortitude is the quiet voice at eventide saying: I will try once more tomorrow. Remember this in moments of decisive trial."