You show your vulnerability through relationships and those feelings are your soft spot. You need to have a soft spot.

Usually a family is led through the mom or the dad and their career and for the family to be led by my career even though God has led it could be a lot of pressure.

My folks have played everything from rock disco pop funk and blues. My dad has always brought and played different genres like jazz classical and Latin. With all this in my pocket I feel I have a taste of everything for my influences.

I grew up in a big Irish Catholic family. My dad was a pretty rough guy. So one of my brothers left home when he was 15 and found his way to the gym. It gave me the opportunity to go and spend some time with him and work out in the gym.

One of the accidental joys of my writing life has been that I've had some lovely surprisingly good fortune with readers and I've brought readers to my dad's work. I can't tell you the joy that gives me. Because my father's work was masterful.

My dad passed away before my freshman year and it altered how I thought. I was depressed - I didn't hang out with my friends. I worked through it by dancing.

Every family is different. I am mom and I am dad and I'm going to do my best. You should be proud walk through life saying I have the coolest family. I am part of a modern family.

Growing up I had a front row seat to seeing two people work really hard. My dad scrubbed toilets at a private Catholic school for a while and that was to help me get through school.

Going through the grief period of my dad and losing him - that was the worst thing because you know when you get that call. When you are seven eight years old you have that almost vision in your mind of what that's going to be like and what your going to feel like and it doesn't prepare you.

On the one hand I've had such a normal upbringing with my mum who has kept me grounded but on the other the wild experiences through my dad.