Of all life's pleasures, only love owes no debt to death.

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.

...we ought not meanwhile to make use of doubt in the conduct of life.

A slow smile spread across his lips, and he threaded his fingers through mine. "I can see why I like you.

Everything considered work is less boring than amusing oneself.

I like having the dough to come and go as I please.

If they won't write the kind of books we like to read we shall have to write them ourselves.

Young men may enjoy dropping their work at five or six o'clock and slipping into a dress suit for an evening of pleasure; but the habit has certain drawbacks.

We cannot write well or truly but what we write with gusto.

Yet you would not drive a car with your mouth unless you are my mother-in-law.

It' easy to find information on Google guru but that's not equal to gaining knowledge.

Thankfully I'm a better actor than football player, or at least I hope so.