I usually write in my underwear, with a space heater running full blast, and three dogs sleeping at me feet.

I really believe in challenging myself, pushing myself to new places.

Limited points of view let the writer dispense - and the reader gather - information from various corners of the story. It all becomes a kind of dance, with the writer guiding the reader through the various twists and turns. The challenge is keeping readers in step, while still managing to surprise.

I love being a struggling artist; it makes me feel very alive.

To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.

The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father.

On one level, this was the biggest challenge out there - to make a film of this scope, in this amount of time, and to go into a different genre, essentially. Yes, I've done a vampire film, but 'Eclipse' is a very different kind of thing. This is a romantic story, which swings from a darker, more abject feeling to very pure romantic scenes.

The huge difference in my lifetime is that you can just go up to somebody and make a pass. You couldn't do that in the 1950s if you were gay. There were secret handshakes, a secret language. There was nowhere you could go to be romantic outside of people's houses.