My first two novels were set in the past, and that freed me up in a lot of ways; it allowed me to find my way into my story and my characters through research.

I want to say that, in general, when it works, open adoption is great.

History releases me from my own experience and jogs my fictional imagination.

It would be a lie to say that people are coming to adoption with joy at all times. Hope, perhaps, but it would be disingenuous to say that every part coming to an adoption isn't seriously grieving.

I feel like if writers used writing as therapy we'd have a ton of happy writers.

I think that when the world feels safe and secure, we probably feel more that way in our personal lives. What goes on in the world affects us, unequivocally.

The past always sort of haunts us and perhaps inspires us in some ways.

I'm a morning person: if I don't get up, put the coffee on and get to my desk by 8, the day has already lost a lot of its promise.

The birth mother is placing the baby out of love. I still believe that. Well, the ones weve dealt with who were actually pregnant, anyway.

As writers, we don't just need to write about poverty or war or the immigrant experience.

I feel sometimes like a book tour is a slow series of humiliations and that if you're strong you'll come out of it OK.

The more you can forgive a person, the more you can love him.

There's a lot of randomness in the decisions that people make.

Fun opens the doors to creativity, which then leads to inspiration, which then births passion, which all together equals both happiness and success!

I was raising a child full time, sharing the responsibility with his mom. He lived with me half the time, so I chose not to go away and make certain movies.

As a matter of fact, you have deficiencies in all religions, but you have truth in all religions.

I come from the so-called Third World (what is the Second)?

I want to go out as unprepared as possible so I can get filled up with what the world has to offer.

A radical and transformative thought goes nowhere without the willingness to challenge convention.

And I'm not a micromanagement guy. I prefer to spend my time doing other stuff than that.

Life is futile unless it be directed towards a definite goal.