Expats are a self-selecting group of outgoing, confident people - if you're not those things, you probably don't choose this adventure - and the lifestyle is very conducive to making fast, close friends.

I'd had 12 different job titles in publishing before I typed 'The End' at the bottom of a manuscript page. I thought the manuscript was in great shape; I was pretty proud of myself. Then I sent it to some publishing friends, and they tore it apart.

Before I wrote my first novel, 'The Expats,' I spent nearly two decades at various arms of publishing houses such as Random House, Workman, and HarperCollins, mostly as an acquisitions editor. But a more accurate title for that job might be rejection editor: while I acquired maybe a dozen projects per year, I'd reject hundreds upon hundreds.

Writing is a solitary occupation; we don't really have any colleagues.

I'm a big proponent of young women dressing appropriately in the workplace to get ahead. We need to demand respect as women, and part of that involves how we present ourselves.

I wanted to do animation, so for lack of available career counselling, took up Bachelor's in Computer Science, but managed to get only C grades.

I've been a writer for 42 years and, yes, it is a full time job for me. Not a hobby, but serious work.

Nothing could ever stop Kiss. I've seen the band in down times where critics were like vultures circling overhead saying things like, 'Well, you know it's the end of your career.'