Joyce Maynard

I was giving a speech one time, and the woman who introduced me said, 'Well, she used to be J. D. Salinger's girlfriend. I thought, 'God, is that all I've been?' I didn't want to be reduced to that.

I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.

The process of writing has always started for me when I put myself in a place where no one distracts me.

There is a theme that runs through my work, and that is: the toxic property of keeping secrets.

For 25 years, I did take my responsibilities as a pleaser of others sufficiently seriously.