Even when I jog, I need a place to get to.

I'm not conniving - that has a pejorative context. I'm not sitting in back rooms making deals. That's not my style.

Mama never told me, 'Bess, you did good.' She wanted the best for us and she was an incredible administrator. She ran those three kids, that house, the whole bit. But if I looked fine, she'd find something wrong - the color, the hem... I used to tell her, 'Mama, don't worry when you're not with me, because you're with me.'

Not only do I have celebrity, but I have notoriety, which is sometimes more seductive.

There's a difference between children's literature and all-ages literature. One is written expressly for children. The other is written for everyone, including children. And the difference usually manifests in not talking down to kids.

After my father died, we were pretty much wiped out financially as a family, so I decided to give finance a try.

My enthusiasm for L.A. stems from my father, who was a lecturer in American literature at the University of Birmingham. Through his work, our family did several house swaps with L.A. families. It was a dreadfully daring thing to do in the early 1980s; there was no Internet, so you had no idea of what you were getting into.

I love my living room: it's the heart of my home where I get to chill and spend time with family and friends.