I write…

books that make you think hard about questions that don't have easy answers.

The first book I ever read and loved was…

Where the Wild Things Are.

I wouldn't be where I am today without…

my husband.

Books are to life what…

chocolate is to food: or in other words, something to be savored.

Every child should be required to read…

period.

I can't write if…

there's music playing in the background.

In another life I would have been…

tall and skinny.

I'd never have become a writer if I hadn't read…

Gone with the Wind.

The best book I've read in a long while was…

The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards

The worst book I've ever read was…

The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks.

When I'm not writing I…

am a mom.

I'm at my most contented when…

I write the last line of a book.

I'm at my most discontented when…

I'm stuck in an airport.

My favourite hero of fiction is…

Scout, from To Kill A Mockingbird

My favourite hero in real life is…

My son Jake, who has had eleven surgeries.

My greatest extravagance is…

Travel -- I don't mind paying for a trip that I know will last a lifetime in memory for my family.

My most treasured possession is…

The coin I wear around my neck. It's from my husband, and it's Greek, from 500 B.C. Athena is on one side, for wisdom; Pegasus is on the other, for creativity.

The best advice I ever got was…

Take the severance package (when the stock market crashed in 1987, and I left the Wall Street firm where I'd been employed.)

The 3 people I would most like to invite for a dinner…

Oprah, Johnny Depp, and Emeril (if he cooks).

If my house was on fire, I would save…

My children, my puppy, and my laptop…with whatever book I was currently writing on it.