Forgiveness isn't simply an option or a good idea; it is mandatory for our restorative process.

Love is accepting your truest, most authentic expression of self, and allowing yourself to do the same with others.

If necessary, I cry. I pray. I rest. I'm fortunate to have quite a few strong, independent, loving, and unbiased women in my life that I can talk things through with.

I keep a gratitude log, which helps to remind me of all the blessings I experience daily.

Be gentle with everyone you meet; we all have experienced pain, hurt, anger, and rejection. Be kind to everyone's spirit; you have no idea what healing your light can afford.

I love to paint. It's more of a hobby, but people love the paintings so much that I end up selling whatever I paint.

Raising awareness about the Deaf culture is a huge cause that I advocate. Because both of my parents are deaf, I am passionate about it in an entirely different way.

Yoga is vital because it keeps me in full awareness and connection with my breath.

I have a spiritual practice which helps to keep me grounded and centered.

There's something scary, knowing that in Florida, someone can pick you up in a car and drive you to 50 states. Back home, it's like, 'Girl, you're 15 minutes away.'

I mean, if you have to wake up in the morning to be validated by the editorial page of the New York Times, you got a pretty sorry existence.

Take this marriage thing seriously - it has to last all the way to the divorce.

When my books were translated, it was always about the characters, because the unique language aspect was lost in translation.

I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences.

Sleeping in Eden is intense and absorbing from the very first page. Written in lovely prose, two seemingly different storylines collide in a shocking conclusion.

Even when 20 years have passed, bring your kids when you come to cheer us on.

Greatness is not always largeness.

The United States invaded Iraq to gain control of one of the major sources of the world's energy.

The doctor frowned upon drinking and often expressed wonderment at men who willingly made imbeciles of themselves.

Discussion in class, which means letting twenty young blockheads and two cocky neurotics discuss something that neither their teacher nor they know.