So those pills that offered painless relief stayed stored on the shelf, out of the strength of her reach, high atop the altar of platitudes.

To close a fellow human being in your heart compels more respect than attending 1000 Christmas Masses.

With growing disbelief, Jess yet again felt herself slipping into the gap - that gap of perception between what is really happening to a person and what others think is happening.

I'd had 35 professional fights and mentally I was tired of it. I'd sort ot fallen out of love with the sport.

Constipation was one of the things she hated most in the world, on par with despicable men who commit domestic violence and narrow-minded religious fundamentalists.

In this world, emotion has become suspect - the accepted style is smooth, antiseptic and passionless.

I think religion is a funny thing because, when you see somebody who can really break it down, sometimes it feels foolish what you believe.

I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't have anything to regret for the rest of their life.

Singing shows are fun. Every viewer has their own opinion. We all know whether we think a voice sounds good or not. There's a play-along element. All these shows can be supported.

I've been working on my autobiography, just pecking away in longhand. The more you write, the more you remember. The more you remember, the more detail you recall. It's not all pleasant!

I'm insatiably curious about human nature. I feel very lucky that as a writer I get to learn so much about it just to do my job right.