I've always looked upon research as an opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. But the other side of the coin is one must not be so caught up in it that one never gets the book written.

For a decade, I was a stay-at-home mom. I sent my husband to his law office, sat on PTA boards and baked cookies - great cookies. All of a sudden, I had no husband, no job, few prospects, and two small children who had grown accustomed to eating.

The common wisdom is that only about 1 percent of a novelist's research ends up in his or her book. In my experience, it's even less - closer to a tenth of a percent.

If you're not in the hands of an expert editor, you really can go wrong in a lot of different ways.

I think the American people aren't looking for loyalty amongst candidates to other candidates. What the American people are looking for is loyalty to the American people.

People can see themselves in a story much easier than they can see themselves in a hypothetical situation that a brand might present to them. So telling stories to build a relationship with your audience is usually far more effective than other methods of marketing or publicity.

In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.

We are what we are because of the people in our lives. What would I be without my family and close friends?