But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with my life story.

I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and was recognized only by his dog.

Recently I heard a 'wise guy' story that I had a party at my home for twenty-five men. It's an interesting story but I don't know twenty-five men I'd want to invite ta a party.

In all honesty at that time I never saw myself as an author... I was just a Mom in a state of panic trying to enter a short story contest to win the prize money in order to keep the lights on in my home.

My mother is a special story. She went through so much to bring us up four men at home especially when our country was going through really difficult times.

Events at home at work in the street - these are the bases for a story.

The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.

At Home in the World is the story of a young woman raised in some difficult circumstances and how she survives. It tells a story of redemption not victimhood.

If I had been elected president in 1948 history would be vastly different. I believe we would have stemmed the growth of Big Government which had begun with the New Deal and culminated with the Great Society.