"I can write all the way through the morning, when my mind is clear, and there are no distractions."

"Our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination... a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there's still time to influence how that future will play out."

"I feel like writing a book there's always a version in your head that's an amazing version, but then you write the version that you can write."

"I like to edit my sentences as I write them. I rearrange a sentence many times before moving on to the next one. For me, that editing process feels like a form of play, like a puzzle that needs solving, and it's one of the most satisfying parts of writing."

"All great art is the work of the whole living creature, body and soul, and chiefly of the soul."

"I really like Calvin Klein for his classic simplicity. I also think Prabal Gurung designs some great pieces that work well for me. My mom has such great style she's my biggest influence."

"Unfortunately, the real achievements of children on the ground became debased and devalued because Labor education secretaries sounded like Soviet commissars praising the tractor production figures when we know that those exams were not the rock-solid measures of achievement that children deserve."

"The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any."