on the day that the intlligence and talents of women are fully honored and employed, the human community and the planet itself will benefit in ways we can only begin to imagine.

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.

For you are you, and I am I, and once we were we… but as long as I exist and so do you – know that I will always love you.

When a great adventure is launched with a powerful thrust, fatigue in the muscles and doubts in the mind are swept away by a fullness that moves life along like a breath from the depths of the soul.

But that's one of the nice things about doing a stage show, if something doesn't work out, you have the luxury of working on it over time.

The Catholics had been in the position of oppressors, and the Protestants of the oppressed

Do not let adversity break you. Think of it as a learning experience that will make you stronger.

Watching Bernadette Peters perform is like an acting class. She's amazing.

Then, again, how annoying to be told it is only five miles to the next place when it is really eight or ten!

The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.

The appeal of writing a romance was that I'd never written one before the The Thorn and The Blossom.

I have won every argument I ever had with myself.