I love many kinds of music: world music, jazz, classical, pop.

Since 1985, I have written about contemporary Jewish practice and the Jewish community.

The Sabbath is a weekly cathedral raised up in my dining room, in my family, in my heart.

I got nice rejections explaining that historical fiction was a difficult sell. But I kept trying.

Why did I not know that birth is the pinnacle where women discover the courage to become mothers?

The painful things seemed like knots on a beautiful necklace, necessary for keeping the beads in place.

The more a daughter knows the details of her mother's life [...] the stronger the daughter.

One of his tears fell in my mouth, where it became a blue sapphire, source of strength, source of strength and eternal hope.

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.

My husband, Jim, converted to Judaism just before our wedding.

One of my great secrets was knowing I had the power to make her smile.

Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity

...insisting that you control the topic of behavioral conversation ensures accountability by students...

Candor is the brightest gem of criticism.

It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power.

The normal make a living. The deranged make history.

This path, this road that is one perfect straight line even if it goes around the world through heat and fog and rain and snow and it's my life I keep thinking. It's my life.

When the time comes to die, make sure that all you have to do is die!" ~Jim Elliot

Classical music presents some of the world's most challenging pieces.

I like storytelling. We all have an active thing that we do that gives us self-esteem, that makes us proud; it's necessary. I have to tell stories because that's the way the wiring went in.