She saw herself riding in the passenger seat, Sam behind the wheel. Like two of those little peg people in a toy car. Husband peg, wife peg, side by ….

None of my own experiences ever finds its way into my work. However, the stages of my life - motherhood, middle age, etc. - often influence my subjec….

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice..

Once your mind is caught on the right snag, there's nothing so hard about the mechanics of writing..

Some people are aware of everything that is going on everywhere at every moment in their lives..

They were like people who run to meet, holding out their arms, but their aim is wrong; they pass each other and keep running..

When you have children, you're obligated to live..

I just want to be told a story, and I want to believe I'm living that story, and I don't give a thought to influences or method or any other writerly….

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I ….

And she thought what a clean, simple life she would have led if it weren't for love..

My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy..

I spend about a year between novels.

I consciously try to end my novels at a point where I won't have to wonder about my characters ever again..

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to th….

I don't type [when I write] because . . . I often have the feeling that everything flows directly from my right hand..

I write because I want more than one life; I insist on a wider selection. It's greed, plain and simple..

I was standing in the schoolyard waiting for a child when another mother came up to me. Have you found work yet? she asked. Or are you still just wri….

I've always thought sleep was a wonderful invention. Not that being awake isn't nice too, of course. But when I get up in the morning, I think, boy, ….

Not until the final draft do I force myself to remember that I'm going to have to think about how it will affect other people..

I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble - some balk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves - but certainly the….

Just because we're related doesn't mean we are any good at understanding each other..