James Patterson has a way with female characters. He understands women in a way that a lot of male writers don't.

I get so much out of being married and raising my kids - that's really important to me.

Everybody has their challenges; I couldn't say that we have more challenges than other people, they're just different.

Michael and I had great role models. Though his father has passed away, his parents had an amazingly strong marriage, as do mine. Both weathered really tough times. For us it has been normal to stay together through difficulties. We grew up witnessing that firsthand.

I've really thought a lot about why other companies fail or succeed. I had to be a student of failure and find out why things went off the rails. I did that at a fairly deep level, and it's still something I do.

Microsoft has had two goals in the last 10 years. One was to copy the Mac, and the other was to copy Lotus' success in the spreadsheet - basically, the applications business. And over the course of the last 10 years, Microsoft accomplished both of those goals. And now they are completely lost.

Real success is finding you lifework in the work that you love.

The most important ingredient for the success of any company is the quality of its people, starting with its leadership team.